Book review: I Will Ruin You

Watching a decent man's life unravel, step by step by step...

Richard Boyle, the protagonist of this delightfully twisty-turny thriller, is a reliably ordinary, all-round decent guy. An English teacher in a small-town high school, it seems as though the worst thing Richard will ever have to face is an irate parent questioning his choice of class reading.

But then he looks out of the window, and sees a young man running across the school playingfields wearing a suicide vest. From there on, Richard’s life gow helter-skelter downhill.

Linwood Barclay is a master mystery writer with a hugely impressive and highly successful backlist, so you know that, as a reader, you can settle back for a deftly told tale.

I Will Ruin You gives you something more than that, though. The issues raised in the book are real and pervasive, and Barclay touches on them with clarity, compassion and a wry wit.

Well worth the read.