Bad Move
by Linwood Barclay
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Book Summary Information
Author: Linwood BarclayEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-26
ISBN: 0553587048
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Bad Move
Book Review: If You Loved Barclay's Independent Storyline Novels, Deciding to Read His Earlier Written Zack Walker Series is No Bad Move!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Summary of Bad Move
In the too-quiet town of Oakwood, only the lucky die of boredom?and new homeowner Zack Walker isn?t feeling lucky. Whoever said the burbs were boring will think twice after reading Linwood Barclay?s hilarious debut mystery, in which Dad learns the hard way that he doesn?t always know best.Zack wouldn?t blame you for thinking he?s safety-obsessed. True, he masterminded a plot to trade his family?s exciting city lifestyle for one of suburban tranquillity. True, even after this strategic move, Zack still has issues with family members who forget their keys in the front door, leave their cars unlocked, or park their backpacks at the top of the stairs?where you could kill yourself tripping over them. Just ask his wife, Sarah, or his teenage kids, Paul and Angie, who endure their share of lectures.
Zack knows that he needs to chill out and assume the best for once?but we know what happens to those who assume.
When Zack realizes their two-faced developer sent a petty thief to fix their leaky shower, he starts fighting hard to ignore the fact that Oakwood isn?t the crime-free paradise he was hoping for. But his brief state of denial comes to an abrupt end when, during a walk by the creek, he stumbles across a dead body. Even more shocking, Zack actually knows who the victim is?and who might want him dead.
With a killer roaming around their neighborhood and Zack?s overactive imagination in overdrive, he?s sure things can?t get any worse. But then another local is murdered?and Zack?s paranoid tendencies get him implicated in the crime. While his wife is trying to remember why she married him in the first place, and his kids are considering whether it?s time to have him committed, Zack decides there?s only one thing he can do. To protect his family?and avoid being busted for a crime he didn?t commit?he?s going to have to override his safety-first instincts, tap into his delusions of machismo, and track down the killer himself.
From the Hardcover edition.
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