Tim Weaver | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Tim Weaver (2019) | |
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) Bath, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genre | Crime |
| Notable works | David Raker series |
| Website | |
| timweaverbooks | |
Tim Weaver (born 1977) is an English writer primarily known for his crime thrillers featuring missing persons investigator David Raker.
Career
Journalism
Prior to publication of his first book, Weaver was a videogames journalist. He was editor of N64 Magazine and spent six years as editor of Xbox World, leaving the magazine in 2011.[1] He also appeared as co-host of YouTube show GTA V O'Clock.[2] In his wider career as a journalist, he has written about the long struggle he and his wife had to start a family.[3]
Novels
Weaver's debut crime thriller Chasing the Dead was finally released in February of 2010, after ten years of trying to find a publisher.[4] The story introduced the character of David Raker. Raker is a former journalist, who gave up his career in newspapers to care for his wife after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The book begins twelve months after her death, centering on the mysterious reappearance of a man thought to have died in a car crash.[5] On a BBC Radio Somerset interview, when asked about Raker's background, Weaver described how he drew on his own traumatic battle to have a child.[6]
His fourth book, Never Coming Back, is the first in the series to move entirely away from London, and is set in Devon and Las Vegas. On 28 August 2013 it was announced that Never Coming Back had been selected for the Richard and Judy Autumn 2013 Book Club.[7] On 18 November 2013, it was shortlisted for Crime & Thriller of the Year in the Specsavers National Book Awards,[8] and on 16 December 2013 iTunes included it in their 'Best of 2013' list, naming it Best British Crime Thriller.[9]
On his decision to have David Raker specialise in missing persons cases, Weaver has said: "I just became very interested in the idea of a person going missing in an age where we have CCTV on every street, 24-hour rolling news channels, and constant access to cameras through our phones. It seemed like an intriguing starting point for a book. It sounds trite, but I was also struck by the human cost. Can you imagine how many stories must go untold when a person vanishes?"[10]
In October 2013, Weaver contributed a short story entitled Disconnection to #YouDunnit, a joint venture between Penguin and Specsavers.[11] The major themes of the story – including the victim, crime scene location, and central character – were crowdsourced on Twitter.
Weaver's tenth book, No One Home, was again selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club on 20 February 2020[12] and on 15 April 2021, Weaver released his first standalone novel, Missing Pieces.[13]
Podcast
In September 2015, Weaver wrote and presented an eight-part podcast series called Missing, looking into how and why people disappear.[14] It was selected by iTunes as one of the best podcasts of 2015.[15] In August 2016, Weaver recorded three further episodes.
Personal life
Weaver attended Norton Hill School[16] in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. He also describes himself as a "massive, massive football fan",[17] and supports Arsenal and Bath City F.C.
Bibliography
David Raker novels
- 2010 – Chasing the Dead
- 2011 – The Dead Tracks
- 2012 – Vanished
- 2013 – Never Coming Back
- 2014 – Fall From Grace
- 2015 – What Remains
- 2016 – Broken Heart
- 2017 – I Am Missing
- 2018 – You Were Gone
- 2019 – No One Home
- 2021 – The Shadow at the Door
- 2022 – The Blackbird
- 2023 – The Last Goodbye
Standalone novels
- 2021 – Missing Pieces
Short stories
- 2013 – Disconnection
References
- ↑ "ComputerAndVideoGames.com – About Tim Weaver". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ↑ "Wednesdays: GTA 5 o' Clock". YouTube. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ↑ Tim Weaver (8 May 2010). "Trying hard to have a baby | Life and style". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ↑ "Shots Magazine – Tim Weaver: Stopped in his tracks?". Shotsmag.co.uk. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ↑ "Chasing the Dead – Tim Weaver – Penguin Books". Penguin.co.uk. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ↑ "Timweaverbooks.Com". Timweaverbooks.tumblr.com. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
We had a very long and traumatic battle to have our daughter (and) a lot of Chasing the Dead – a lot of the beginning of that first book where (David Raker) is talking about how he feels about his wife – came out of that sense of loss.
- ↑ "WHSmith Richard and Judy Book Club". richardandjudy.whsmith.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ↑ "Specsavers National Book Award – Crime & Thriller of the Year". nationalbookawards.co.uk/. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ↑ "Macworld – Best apps, music, films, books, TV and podcasts of 2013 listed by Apple on iTunes". macworld.co.uk//. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ↑ "Interview: Tim Weaver". Crime Fiction Lover. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ↑ "The Drum – Specsavers and Penguin team up to let crime fans create #youdunnit novella through social media". thedrum.com/. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ↑ "WHSmith Richard and Judy Book Club". www.whsmith.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ↑ "Penguin Books". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ↑ "MISSING: Is it possible to disappear?". missingpodcast.com/. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ↑ "MISSING by Tim Weaver on iTunes". itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/missing/id1034408710?mt=2. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ↑ "Tim Weaver book published Chasing the Dead". This is Somerset. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ↑ "An Interview with Tim Weaver". The Darley Anderson Blog. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.