Bad Move: A Novel (Zack Walker)

This Zack Walker had me laughing out loud. Zack is a hilarious character & gets himself in some funny situations. Am now starting Bad Guys & it's another winner!

Recently I came across Linwood Barclay's sensational later written independent stand alone storyline novels No Time for Goodbye and Too Close to Home so decided to track down his old stuff including the Zack Walker series of which this is the first novel. This is also Barclay's first novel and with some authors they don't hit their peak until a few novels in but not so with Barclay and Bad Move. Bad Move is a sensational novel, has a milder touch of the Harlan Coben style, though not as strong as the two standalone novels I mentioned earlier. What this novel also has though, that, which they don't is also the comic caper factor (yes like some of Donald E. Westlake's novels. These two combined styles make Bad Move a very entertaining and can't put down novel. The basic plot of Bad Move is Zack Walker, a father who takes cotton wool parenting to an extreme level convinces his family to move to the suburbs due to the increasing number of needles in the streets, muggings and the final straw in his mind, a little girl being abducted, murdered and dumped in a fridge. However now in the suburbs his family seems to have let their guard down, he is constantly appalled by their lack of common sense, finding keys left in the front door, backpacks at the top of the stairs, car windows open and other 'insane' activities. Zack knows the only way to keep them safe is to change their behaviour and this is done through his lessons. These include moving the wife's car so she will think someone used the keys she left in the door to steal it and letting his kids discover his corpse after he tripped on their bags and fell down the stairs. Of course this doesn't really do anything but cause marital tension and a lack of respect for the kids. Plus Zack is discovering the neighbours he thought were good law abiding citizens are anything but, such as the guy growing pot in his basement and the one woman brothel. However when he tries to teach his wife a lesson about what it is like to have her handbag stolen from her shopping trolley he stumbles into a world of trouble and learns quickly how big the suburban crime world is. If he's going to keep his family safe he's going to have to solve a murder or two very quickly and he's going to need the help of those less law abiding neighbours to do it. A great book can't wait to read the next in this series Bad Guys. Incidentally the next two in order after that are Lone Wolf and Stone Rain.

The cover states "If Dave Barry wrote mystery, it would be something like Barclay's Bad Move." Which is true, because as I read it I was reminded of Dave Barry's mysteries, which apparently the writers of the blurb didn't realize Barry wrote - though I'd call both this one and Barry's books "criminal capers." However, as a Dad with (so my kids say) a little bit of the central character's tendencies in me, I found Barclay's Bad Move even better than Barry's work. This is a very funny book, enough so that when I read this back in April, '06, I ordered the hardback of the second novel, Bad Guys, without waiting for it's soon-released paperback version. The story centers around Zack Walker, a married father of two, whose attempts at life's lessons to his family tend to . . . go awry. Throw in a few fellows of criminal intent, and you have a great story.

BAD MOVE is is funny from start to finish. It also happens to be a good piece of writing and a form of social commentary. You really can't lose with this book. Charlaine Harris

Bad Move is a damn good read. Intricately plotted?fast-paced?and wickedly funny throughout. In Zach Walker, author Linwood Barclay has fashioned an everyman hero, aided and abetted by an utterly believable family of characters, in a story that smoothly escalates from situation comedy to gripping thriller in just over 300 pages. Without revealing too much, the book offers not one but two big payoffs?one that will have you laughing out loud and the other that neatly ties together all the loose ends?both highly satisfying in their way Let the booksellers decide whether to file Bad Move under Humor or Mystery ? fans of both genres will enjoy it immensely. Read it now before Hollywood options the film rights?and before the inevitable sequel arrives. it won't be soon enough.

The Walker family used to live downtown. However, when used condoms and needles were found on the street and a five year old girl was killed and cut up and put in the refrigerator, Zack decided it was time to move to the suburbs, where his family would be safe. Zack obsesses over his family?s safety and he goes to extraordinary lengths to teach his loved one how to remain out of harm's way, which usually ends up making them furious at him.One day when Zack and his wife are at the supermarket, he notices his spouse left her purse in the cart. To teach her a lesson he takes the bag and puts it in the trunk of the car so she will think it is stolen. When his wife comes back to the car, he realizes she is wearing a fanny pack and he stole someone else?s purse. By the time he tracks the owner down, he finds her murdered in her home and realizes he has stumbled into a dangerous situation that puts him and his family in harm?s way.BAD MOVE is one of the most exciting crime thrillers of the year as the troubles the protagonist finds himself in borders on the slapstick. His obsessive need for safety lands him in trouble with businessmen, politicians and a cold blooded killer who wants nothing more than to murder the hero and read his latest science fiction manuscript. Making all the right moves, Linwood Barclay has a refreshingly original voice that this reviewer believes will turn him into a superstar in the crime thriller sub-genre.Harriet Klausner