Stone Rain (Zack Walker)

It was very well-plotted, though more serious in tone than the series' other installments. I really enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun to read, but in a bittersweet sort of way, since it seems Barclay has abandoned the series. I suppose there was closure, but it just didn't feel like a series finale to me. I sincerely hope that he someday returns to the thrillingly hilarious escapades of Zack Walker.

In Linwood Barclay's fourth novel featuring trepid newspaper writer Zack Walker, Zack falls into two dangerous situations. His friend Trixie Snelling, accountant turned dominatrix, calls asking for help with a reporter who's been buzzing around her for a story. For reasons that later become clear, she's terrified of having her picture printed in the paper. And Zack's son Paul takes a job as a fry cook, only to discover that the trio of muscular Slavic women running the burger joint are serving up E. coli with their fries. The two threads of the story eventually combine, with both sets of bad guys intent on killing or maiming Zack, albeit with very different weapons. As usual, Zack's tendency to fall into trouble and not come clean about it soon enough also gets him in hot water at home. But what's unusual about this book is that the main story is punctuated by chapters detailing Trixie's colorful back story. This is necessary for our understanding, but for me these were the low points of the book. Frankly, I don't find Trixie a very interesting or sympathetic character. She's made a number of mistakes in her life that have put her friends and family in danger. And while one can try to exonerate her by saying that she was forced into them by her situation, well, she really wasn't. Given at various times in life a choice of two directions to take, she has invariably made the worse choice. So, I don't really care what happens to her. Barclay, however, tells a great story, and he ties up the various strands of the plot very neatly at the end. Still, if there's to be another Zack Walker novel, I'd prefer that the troubles Zack faces be closer to home. And, generally speaking, the more we see of Zack's friend, the enigmatic private eye Lawrence Jones, the better (provided that he, unlike Trixie in this outing, remains enigmatic). -- Debra Hamel

this one will keep you riveted! get it and read it! I loved this and read it fast. you will not want to put it down!

An excellent story as are all of those by Linwood Barclay. He gets better wih each new novel.

In the last three years science fiction writer and reporter for the Metropolitan Newspaper Zack Walker has written some deadly stories that have fallen into his lap. He has crossed paths with criminals and his first person accounts are widely read although his editor would like to fire him and his wife Sarah would like to kill him for scaring her. He promises her to walk away from danger in the future, but he knows how difficult adhering to this pledge will be because he never looks for trouble but it always seems to find him. His good friend Trixie, a dominatrix who works out of her house, asks Zach to talk to suburban newspaper reporter Martin Benson, who heard a rumor about her and wants to interview her. Trixie wants Zack to persuade Martin to drop the story, and especially not to take any pictures of her. When Zack refuses claiming journalistic ethics, Trixie tries to manipulate both men, but her picture appears in the Suburban anyway. This leads to Trixie running away with dangerous men sent by her former boss to get his money back from her on her trail. They use Zack and his wife to try and find Trixie otherwise Zack won't have to worry about his wife killing him. The crime boss will. Linwood Barclay has written an exciting crime caper whose protagonist likes and needs action, but dives head first into disorganized dangerous dilemmas. Readers will empathize with Zack's wife who has to put up with his shenanigans There is plenty of action in STONE RAIN, but the heart of this tense thriller is the hero, who is in trouble with the law, his boss, his wife, and Trixie's enemies; just a normal day at the office for the Zackster. Harriet Klausner