Every Trace [Mass Market Paperback]

Gregg Main (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

P>Ellen has murder on her mind: an untraceable act of retribution for a horror that shattered her family and her childhood. After years of quietly searching, the time for action has arrived. Leaving her unwitting husband, Pete, she vanishes without a trace, taking to the road in pursuit of a man called Walker--a killer who can lead her to the evil prey she seeks.

With the slimmest of clues, a confused and desperate Pete begins to trace Ellen's path. As he pieces together the truth behind his wife's disappearance, he realizes that his ignorance of Ellen's secrets has not only jeopardized their marriage, but may also cost the woman he loves her life. Certain of nothing but the need to find her, Pete crisscrosses the country in a harrowing race against the clock that ends in a brutal, fiery confrontation on a desert mountain top--a stunnning shocker that will leave you guessing until the very end.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When Ellen Donnelly was three years old, her father was murdered after walking in on an apparent robbery, an experience from which Ellen has never recovered. While the accomplice spends 30 years in jail, the identity of the gunman remains a mystery. Every Trace, Main's first novel, begins when Ellen decides to confront the accomplice, now in his 60s and working at an adult video warehouse. Alone, Ellen plans to learn the identity of the gunman and, as an act of revenge, murder both men. When Ellen's plan goes terribly awry, it is up to her husband, Pete, to untangle Ellen's carefully concealed plan. This abridgment flows well, except for the few spots where Pete appears to be hit with sudden insight. The action takes place in Dallas, Los Angeles, and rural New Mexico, but Fee Waybill's reading barely hints at regional accents. In fact, the characters' voices sound essentially the same, which leads to confusion in scenes that rely heavily on dialog. Although somewhat predictable, the mystery takes an unexpected turn or two. Not an essential purchase, but recommended for large mystery collections.AAdrienne Furness, Genesee Community Coll., Batavia, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061097071
• ISBN-13: 978-0061097072
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,778,164 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.