History Creator / LinwoodBarclay

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: In-universe, recurring character David Harwood invokes this trope when has to speak to his mother about how she should not let his young son watch ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when she's looking after him, as it is not suitable for children (she, being older, assumes that it's suitable for children purely because it's a cartoon).

* SharedUniverse: A fair few of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly nice and peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York which serves as a deconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Three novels -- ''Broken Promise'', ''Far From True'' and ''The Twenty Three'' -- form the "Promise Falls Trilogy". ''Parting Shot'' then follows on directly from the events of those novels.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: In-universe, recurring character David Harewood invokes this trope when has to speak to his mother about how she should not let his young son watch ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when she's looking after him, as it is not suitable for children (she, being older, assumes that it's suitable for children purely because it's a cartoon).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: in-universe, recurring character David Harewood invokes this trope when has to speak to his mother about how she should not let his young son watch ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when she's looking after him, as it is not suitable for children (she, being older, assumes that it's suitable for children purely because it's a cartoon).

* {{Trumplica}}: Promise Falls has a disgraced ex-mayor who attempts a political comeback by knowingly rebranding himself as a local version of the Donald.

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Sperm donation, or more pertinently the long-term consequences of doing so, drives the plot of both ''Fear the Worst'' (in which the narrator finds that he actually has more than one daughter) and ''Find You First'' (in which a terminally-ill tech millionaire finds that his nine biological children, all of whom were conceived with sperm that he donated years ago, are being killed off).

* RecurringCharacter: Several, as befits Barclay's use of the SharedUniverse trope. David Harwood, Cal Weaver and Derek Cutter are just three of the most prominent examples.

* {{Trumplica}}: Promise Falls has a disgraced ex-mayor who attempts a political comeback by knowingly rebranding himself as a local version of The Donald.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly nice and peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York which serves as a deconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Three novels -- ''Broken Promise'', ''Far From True'' and ''The Twenty Three'' -- form the "Promise Falls Trilogy". ''Parting Shot'' then follows on directly from the events of those novels.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York which serves as a deconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Three novels -- ''Broken Promise'', ''Far From True'' and ''The Twenty Three'' -- form the "Promise Falls Trilogy". ''Parting Shot'' then follows on directly from the events of those novels.

* {{Trumplica}}: Promise Falls has a disgraced ex-mayor who attempts a political comeback by knowingly setting himself up as one of these.

Linwood Barclay (born 1955) is an American-born Canadian novelist and (former) newspaper columnist.

* IntrepidReporter: David Harwood has shades of this, even though the newspaper he worked for, the ''Promise Falls Standard'', gets closed down.

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Sperm donation, or more pertinently the long-term consequences of doing so, drives the plot of both ''Fear the Worst'' and ''Find You First''.

* MistakenForMurderer: Happens to quite a few characters, most notably David Harwood, whose wife Jan disappears at the start of ''Never Look Away'' (which he narrates). Naturally, the police suspect that he had a hand in this.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York which serves as a deconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Three novels -- ''Broken Promise'', ''Far From True'' and ''The Twenty Three'' -- form the "Promise Falls Trilogy". ''Parting Shot'' then follows on directly from the events of those novels.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York. Three novels -- ''Broken Promise'', ''Far From True'' and ''The Twenty Three'' -- form the "Promise Falls Trilogy". ''Parting Shot'' then follows on from the events of those novels.

* MistakenForMurderer: Happens to quite a few characters, most notably David Harwood, whose wife Jan disappears at the start of ''Never Look Away''. Naturally, the police suspect that he had a hand in this.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe -- which is centred on the seemingly peaceful but actually quite troubled town of Promise Falls in upstate New York.

* SequelGap: The Archers, the family at the centre of ''No Time for Goodbye'', return in ''No Safe House'' which was published seven years later. Seven years have passed in their lives too.

* SharedUniverse: Most of his novels are set in the same universe --