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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Walker Adventure Since Bad Move!, February 12, 2009
This review is from: Stone Rain (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the fourth novel read through the eyes of the main character Zack Walker. Zack isn't the brightest guy in the world but he is certainly one of the most loyal to his family and friends. So when his ex neighbour Trixie Snelling, wants him to intervene and stop a journalist from writing a story on her and her bondage business which operates out of her basement, even though he knows doing so is unethical, may get his own journalistic career in jeopardy and most importantly his wife sort of doesn't like him spending time with the beautiful ex neighbour, he does anyway. Of course as always everything goes wrong and not only does he bring a lot of problems for himself and his wife at the Metropolitan newspaper, the story appears anyway. With his marriage falling apart, unemployment beckoning he decides to meet with Trixie once and for all and tell her she can't be a part of his life any longer. Meeting her at her house she is late, the lock doesn't seem to be engaged when she finally gets there and the reporter who caused all the problems is strapped to a bondage cross in the basement with his throat cut. Well his wife is definilty going to find out he was visiting now, especially since Trixie handcuffed him to the stairs and called her to come rescue him as she stole his car and fled. Throw in his son's first job at burger place that doesn't believe in health regulations run by some huge fat woman who don't take kindly to interfearers like him, a bad guy who picks his nose all the time and his marriage is going to be the least of his problems!
Stone Rain is good in that we get to learn a lot more about one of the other main characters in Barclay's debut novel Bad Move in Trixie. Like the other two sequels before this, Barclay does like to recount what went on in the former novels just for the sake of it when it isn't necessary for the story so I highly recommend reading these in order so your surprise and enjoyment factor isn't lessened. Plus you've still got the need for very convenient things to happen for Zack to get out of situations and the age old well why wouldn't you just call the cops when you're visiting the prison and the whole end part of the book wouldn't have needed to happen.
Barclay has gone on to write a couple of independent storyline novels, this is the last in the Zack Walker series at the time of this review however this story leaves it open for more in the future. The standalone stories such written more like Harlan Coben novels than Carl Hiaasen who this series was compared to, such as the masterpieces No Time for Goodbye and Too Close to Home have however been a lot more successful so it may be a while before Barclay reintroduces Zack to the pages.
If you haven't already done so, go and grab a copy of Bad Move and see just how good a character Zack Walker was before he lost the teach his family lessons, extreme cotton wool parenting trait.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Zack Walker's Fourth Outing another Good Read, December 30, 2009
This review is from: Stone Rain (Mass Market Paperback)
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
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stone rain pour laughs and thrills, December 31, 2007
This review is from: Stone Rain (Mass Market Paperback)
I am an unabashed fan of Linwood Barclay's books. His character development is first rate, his plots are right in line with what really happens in life stretched out just a tad and he is hysterically funny. His hero, Zack, (if one can call an obsessive-compulsive worrier who lucks out when confronted with danger a hero) mirrors the way our society is trying to protect everyone to the point that we take all the fun out of life. I find myself laughing out loud at the twists and turns, Zack's interior monologues and ludicrous - yet somehow logical- solutions to the problems he encounters. That's a rarity for me, because most authors seem to try too hard for my taste. I wish someone would pick up these characters and make a series or movie (as long as they do it well and are faithful to his voice), so more people would read Barclay's books. If you like mysteries, love a laugh and want a fun read that you can't put down, give Barclay a try. Start at the beginning with his first book, though, because while they stand alone, there's more impact if you follow Zack from his very first encounter with criminal behavior. Stone Rain is the fourth, and I have to wait months for the next in the series.
Oh no, now I'M worried other readers won't get Barclay's sense of irony. I guess Zack is a little contagious!
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