Tim Weaver (author)

Tim Weaver
Tim Weaver (2019)
Tim Weaver (2019)
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Bath, England
OccupationNovelist
GenreCrime
Notable worksDavid Raker series
Website
timweaverbooks.com

Tim Weaver (born 13 July 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 video game journalist. He was a writer for Future plc magazines Super Play,[1] Total!,[2] N64 Magazine,[3] Video Gamer,[4][5] and Xbox World.[1] He also appeared as co-host of YouTube show GTA V O'Clock.[6]

Novels

Weaver's debut crime thriller Chasing the Dead was released in February of 2010.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] On 18 November 2013, it was shortlisted for Crime & Thriller of the Year in the Specsavers National Book Awards,[10] and on 16 December 2013, iTunes included it in their 'Best of 2013' list, naming it Best British Crime Thriller.[11]

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?"[12]

In October 2013, Weaver contributed a short story entitled Disconnection to #YouDunnit, a joint venture between Penguin and Specsavers.[13] 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[14] and on 15 April 2021, Weaver released his first standalone novel, Missing Pieces.[15]

Podcast

In September 2015, Weaver wrote and presented an eight-part podcast series called Missing, looking into how and why people disappear.[16] It was selected by iTunes as one of the best podcasts of 2015.[17] In August 2016, Weaver recorded three further episodes.

Personal life

Weaver attended Norton Hill School[18] in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. He also describes himself as a "massive, massive football fan,"[19] 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
  • 2024 – The Missing Family

Standalone novels

  • 2021 – Missing Pieces

Short stories

  • 2013 – Disconnection

References

  1. ^ a b "Episode 106: Tim Weaver Interview". Maximum Power Up. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Editorial". Total!. No. 58. Future plc. October 1996. p. 2.
  3. ^ "Team 64". N64 Magazine. No. 1. Future plc. April 1997. p. 5.
  4. ^ Weaver, Tim (December 2000). "Contents". Video Gamer. No. 1. Future plc. p. 4.
  5. ^ Thorpe, Nick (2017). "Back to the Naughties - This Month In..." Retro Gamer. Future plc. p. 17. Editor Tim Weaver was put in charge of a largely new team to create Video Gamer, a 99p monthly gaming magazine that ultimately lasted a mere four months.
  6. ^ "Wednesdays: GTA 5 o' Clock". YouTube. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Shots Magazine – Tim Weaver: Stopped in his tracks?". Shotsmag.co.uk. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Chasing the Dead – Tim Weaver – Penguin Books". Penguin.co.uk. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  9. ^ "WHSmith Richard and Judy Book Club". richardandjudy.whsmith.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Specsavers National Book Award – Crime & Thriller of the Year". nationalbookawards.co.uk/. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Interview: Tim Weaver". Crime Fiction Lover. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "WHSmith Richard and Judy Book Club". www.whsmith.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Penguin Books". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  16. ^ "MISSING: Is it possible to disappear?". missingpodcast.com/. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  17. ^ "MISSING by Tim Weaver on iTunes". itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/missing/id1034408710?mt=2. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  18. ^ "Tim Weaver book published Chasing the Dead". This is Somerset. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  19. ^ "An Interview with Tim Weaver". The Darley Anderson Blog. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.