Author: Linwood Barclay

Performed by George Newbern

Released on Audible March 2021, and published by HQ

Category: Contemporary Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of—except time. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. For Miles, this means taking a long hard look at his past . . .

After Miles Cookson gets a devastating diagnosis, his initial reaction is angry denial followed by reluctant acceptance. All his millions can’t help him now. The one time he’d give it all up for a positive outcome. There’s also a chance his illness could be passed on to any children. The trouble is, Miles doesn’t know if he has any, who they might be or how many are out there.

Years ago when he was struggling and strapped for cash, Miles went to a fertility clinic and became a donor. There’s more than a possibility he has children out there somewhere. He resolves to find them, feeling they need to know what they might be facing, and the fact they will inherit a large sum of money. Miles discovers names and locations, through less than ethical means, and begins his quest.

As an adult, Miles had always lived alone. Not only had he never married, he’d never had a live-in girlfriend. Sure, plenty of women had slept over through the years, but rarely more than two nights in a row. Miles didn’t encourage that type of thing. Never give a woman chance to get comfortable under this roof. He valued his privacy. He liked things just so. Living a solitary existence, at least on the home front, was not a problem.

But since the diagnosis, something in him had changed. Not physically, but emotionally.

He was lonely.

Chloe Swanson is trying to find her biological father. Her mother had become pregnant from a donor at a fertility clinic but doesn’t want to talk about it, so Chloe is getting as much information as she can from her grandfather. She also sent a DNA sample off for analysis.

Find You First is a suspenseful race against time for Miles. Someone is determined to thwart his efforts to find his heirs, with disappearances and deaths without any trace left behind. Main characters of the fairly large cast are well drawn and easy to like, or not, as the case may be. The fast paced plot has multiple threads, which are brought together with an unexpected twist towards the end.

Find You First does stretch credulity, particularly at the end, but if you just run with it, it’s definitely enjoyable and entertaining escapism.

Book links ~ Waterstones | Amazon UK | Bookshop.org | Wordery

Linwood Barclay is a former columnist for The Toronto Star and the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including Too Close to Home and No Time for Goodbye, a #1 Sunday Times (UK) bestseller. He lives near Toronto with his wife.

Author links ~ Website | Twitter | Facebook