Every Trace [Hardcover]

Gregg Main (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 1999

The adrenaline-charged debut novel of a husband, a wife, and two killers locked in a twisted match of hide-and-seek.

Ellen has murder on her mind: a secret, untrceable act of retribution; payback for a horrifying act from her childhoos that shattered her family and changed her life forever. After years of searching, the time for action has arrived. She takes to the road in pursuit of a man called Walkersetting into motion a plan so carefully crafted no one knows where she's gone. Not even her husband, Pete, a college teacher who waked up one morning alone in their bed. Unaware of her secret past, Pete suspects only that a

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An otherwise predictable story of revenge gone awry is redeemed, in L.A. screenwriter Main's debut thriller, through his creation of the memorable character of a 63-year-old paroled murderer. Thirty years before the novel's beginning, Franklin Walker and another man killed Ellen Donelly's father during a robbery, a crime that the five-year-old girl witnessed. Now, bent on vengeance, Ellen leaves her husband, Pete, and their Dallas home one day without explanation. She flies to L.A., where Walker has been living since his parole, confronts him with a gun and demands the identity of the man who did the actual shooting and was never caught. Walker, a crusty old con who reads self-help books and keeps a tight rein on his feelings, manages to turn the tables and take Ellen prisoner. Meanwhile, back in Dallas, Pete does some digging in Ellen's computer and discovers that she and her recently deceased mother had been planning their revenge for many years. Helped by a family friend and an L.A. private eye who lives in a retirement home, Pete picks up Ellen's trail just as she and Walker move on toward New Mexico and a rendezvous with the killer. Unfortunately, neither Pete nor Ellen are more than one-dimensional pawns on Main's chessboard; in particular, Ellen's decision not to confide in Pete is built on a flimsy reason. Yet readers will take pleasure in observing Walker's metamorphosis from wary survivor to positive action-taker, and Main's ability to craft swift, highly charged scenes keeps the narrative moving briskly.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Donellys' marriage turns sour after Ellen learns of Pete's affair. But Pete does not expect his wife to disappear when she tells him she's going to visit her sister. When he learns Ellen has left town without telling anyone where she is going or when she'll be back, he searches for clues on her computer, finding secure files he can't open. With the help of friends, the police, and an elderly private detective, Pete begins to piece together the secrets his wife has hidden for nearly three decades. Ellen is seeking revenge for the murder of her father, which she witnessed as a child. She locates Franklin Walker, an accomplice to the crime, but instead of revenge she finds a man who saved her life 30 years ago. Thrills are held to a minimum for most of the book, and the characters remain superficial, with the exception of Walker. Predictable plotting makes this first novel a rather dull read. Not a required purchase.AShirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (February 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060191783
• ISBN-13: 978-0060191788
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,908,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A PROMISING DEBUT, January 19, 2001

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every Trace (Mass Market Paperback)

The plot may be predictable but the characters are not, which may, to a great degree, be what carries screenwriter Gregg Main's debut thriller Every Trace. A petty thief and convicted murderer seems a poor choice for an affecting protagonist, but in the deft hands of Mr. Main it works. Gruff, grizzly, enigmatic Franklin Walker intrigues and even elicits sympathy as beneath his crusty carapace one finds some drops of human kindness.

When Ellen Donelly has a pack-your-bag-and-leave fight with her husband, Pete, she says she needs some time and is going to visit her sister. Several days later, Pete discovers that Ellen has not gone to see her sister nor was her sister expecting her. Ellen has disappeared.

What Pete does not know is that Ellen has been haunted for years by her father's murder - a slaying she witnessed when she was only four-years-old. Two men had broken into her father's office. They shot him and then set fire to the building. One of the men, Franklin Walker, was captured and spent 30 years in prison for his crime. He never revealed the name of the second man, the one who fired the fatal bullets.

Determined to find the man who actually killed her father, Ellen, disguised and with a false I.D., has gone to California to find the 63-year-old Walker and force him to tell her the murderer's name. But stalker becomes captive when Walker wrestles a gun from Ellen and takes her prisoner.

Alan Barton, Walker's accomplice in crime, orders the parolee to kill Ellen but Walker cannot bring himself to do it. A devotee of self-help books, he searches vainly for a positive solution, knowing that Barton will surely kill him if he does not obey.

A showdown with Barton seems the only solution, so he and Ellen head for Barton's cabin in the remote mountains of New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Pete has done some investigating of his own and discovered that Ellen has long planned to exact revenge. With the help of a computer whiz friend who is able to retrieve information from Ellen's computer and a curmudgeonly L.A. detective, Pete traces Ellen and he, too, heads for New Mexico.

With a succession of wrong turns and near misses the author skillfully zings his narrative along to a bloody, bullet-riddled, flaming crescendo.

While readers may well guess on page 3 who has masterminded these nefarious doings. The key is we didn't know Franklin Walker, and he's well worth the read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning page turner!!, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Every Trace (Hardcover)

Oh my gosh! This book was sooo good!!! Everyone told me not to start reading this book on a work night(we are all thriller addicts), but no, I wouldn't listen. It was two a.m. and I kept looking at the clock, thinking I have got to get some sleep, but I couldn't put Every Trace down. This is a great book with one of the best bad guys since Hannibal... Take this book with you on vacation; do not start it on Sunday night.

Exhausted, Terrified, and Wrung Out in Texas

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A galloping fast read, March 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Every Trace (Hardcover)

Every Trace cost me several hours of sleep. I kept thinking, "I'll just read one more chapter," but then I would find myself hooked and read well past the place I had decided to stop. Written sparely, this is a fast-paced thriller that doesn't dwell on gore.