Find You First by Linwood Barclay

Find You First My Rating: 4.6

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. Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has kids—nine of them. And they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him—maybe his fortune, or maybe something much worse.

When Miles eventually connects with one of his kids, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.

Who is the vicious killer—another heir methodically erasing rivals? Or is something even more sinister going on? It’s a deadly race against time . . .

I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging this book turned out to be. One thing that really stood out was the character development — each character felt distinct and real enough to keep me invested in the story, even as the plot took some pretty wild turns.

Admittedly, there were moments where the story seemed to “jump the shark” a bit — twists and developments that stretched believability. But even so, it was undeniably entertaining, and the fast pace helped smooth over some of those more unbelievable elements.

Overall, Found You First delivered an enjoyable reading experience. It’s a solid choice if you’re in the mood for a suspenseful thriller that balances a compelling premise with characters you’ll actually care about, even if it occasionally veers into the implausible.