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Zack Walker #1
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.
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.
387 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
686 people are currently reading
3224 people want to read
About the author
Linwood Barclay
82 books7,154 followersLinwood Barclay is the #1 internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels for adults, including No Time for Goodbye, Trust Your Eyes and, most recently, A Noise Downstairs. He has also written two novels for children and screenplays.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 533 reviews
January 7, 2019
This is the first novel written by Linwood Barclay, before the author became even known. The first in a series of four. Zack Walker is an unlikeable character, a paranoid freak about security, a father who always tends to “teach his family a lesson”, because they are so security unconscious about everything. Ultimately, the last lesson will backfire on him, when he grabs an unattended purse thinking it belongs to his wife. This action will make all hell to break lose, and finally he and his family will get to know what really danger looks like.
A very easy reading, with lots of humor involved. I loved the chapter of the “backpack incident”! But it’s not an edge of your seat thriller. It’s a slow burn mystery, it takes a while to take off, but when it does, it’s an enjoyable read. And it has two endings…. Just when you think everything is solved, there is a final twist.
A very easy reading, with lots of humor involved. I loved the chapter of the “backpack incident”! But it’s not an edge of your seat thriller. It’s a slow burn mystery, it takes a while to take off, but when it does, it’s an enjoyable read. And it has two endings…. Just when you think everything is solved, there is a final twist.
September 27, 2012
BAD MOVE started off way too slow. Normally, I'd stop reading a book like this after the first chapter. But this was the debut novel of a currently successful author with a following, and it was published by Bantam, no less.
So my curiosity was piqued.
His prose is very good, but a bit too wordy for my taste. He doesn't lose himself in unnecessary descriptions, but when I'm reading a boring passage and it's not immediately clear to me why this has to be in the book, I tend to think of what other things I could be doing with the precious little free time I have. I forgive the occasional dull bits if they are written by the hand of Stephen King or Dean Koontz because I've read enough by them to trust that it will be worth my while in the end.
Some new authors, like Linwood Barclay when he wrote BAD MOVE, tend to assume they have that trust, and they lose momentum in the beginning of the book building background, when they should be making the reader go from curious to addicted in the space of a few paragraphs or the first chapter at most.
I stayed at curious throughout the beginning. Not curious because of the story, but curious because I wanted to know how Linwood Barclay managed to get such a slow paced book published.
Finally, midway through, the book started working like a page-turner should. At that point, I ended up reading non-stop, like I usually do with books that I really enjoy.
I was also impressed by the editing. I had one objection to the use of the word "further" which I believe should be used to portray metaphorical distance, but in this case was used to describe physical distance instead. Other than that, I didn't spot a single typo or misplaced comma.
(I'm not a stickler for faultless writing but lately I've noticed more and more typos popping up in novels. Even in some of the more recent books by bestselling authors like Harlan Coben.)
In the end, BAD MOVE won me over (though I can't give this book five stars because of the slow beginning) and I'm going to buy the next book, BAD GUYS, right now. If I like it, who knows, I might even become a Linwood Barclay fan.
So my curiosity was piqued.
His prose is very good, but a bit too wordy for my taste. He doesn't lose himself in unnecessary descriptions, but when I'm reading a boring passage and it's not immediately clear to me why this has to be in the book, I tend to think of what other things I could be doing with the precious little free time I have. I forgive the occasional dull bits if they are written by the hand of Stephen King or Dean Koontz because I've read enough by them to trust that it will be worth my while in the end.
Some new authors, like Linwood Barclay when he wrote BAD MOVE, tend to assume they have that trust, and they lose momentum in the beginning of the book building background, when they should be making the reader go from curious to addicted in the space of a few paragraphs or the first chapter at most.
I stayed at curious throughout the beginning. Not curious because of the story, but curious because I wanted to know how Linwood Barclay managed to get such a slow paced book published.
Finally, midway through, the book started working like a page-turner should. At that point, I ended up reading non-stop, like I usually do with books that I really enjoy.
I was also impressed by the editing. I had one objection to the use of the word "further" which I believe should be used to portray metaphorical distance, but in this case was used to describe physical distance instead. Other than that, I didn't spot a single typo or misplaced comma.
(I'm not a stickler for faultless writing but lately I've noticed more and more typos popping up in novels. Even in some of the more recent books by bestselling authors like Harlan Coben.)
In the end, BAD MOVE won me over (though I can't give this book five stars because of the slow beginning) and I'm going to buy the next book, BAD GUYS, right now. If I like it, who knows, I might even become a Linwood Barclay fan.
March 21, 2025
“I don’t happen to think I’m an asshole, but I’m also willing to acknowledge your typical asshole’s not blessed in the self-awareness department.”
“But I’d understand if you remain unconvinced. By the time you’ve heard this story, you might say, ‘Man, that Zack Walker, he’s a major one.’ ”
Yep, you got that right … and notwithstanding his passing fair competence as a sci-fi author, he’s singularly lacking in judgement and intelligence. But, of course, if he had called the police on the countless occasions on which a person with that judgement and reasonable adult capability of rational thought and logical analysis would have done so, there would have been no novel!
BAD MOVE is a story of corruption, small-town political shenanigans, corporate greed, blackmail, environmental activism, murder, more murder, paranoia, a tax accountant moonlighting as a skilled dominatrix, a gardener (well, actually a pot farmer! And doesn’t that make for an off-the-wall variation on your neighbourhood watch group), plus a lovable family convinced that their father is an incorrigible bonehead.
BAD MOVE may be completely lacking in credibility but it is certainly funny and entertaining. Given that it also happens to be a debut novel, I’m pretty darn impressed!
Paul Weiss
“But I’d understand if you remain unconvinced. By the time you’ve heard this story, you might say, ‘Man, that Zack Walker, he’s a major one.’ ”
Yep, you got that right … and notwithstanding his passing fair competence as a sci-fi author, he’s singularly lacking in judgement and intelligence. But, of course, if he had called the police on the countless occasions on which a person with that judgement and reasonable adult capability of rational thought and logical analysis would have done so, there would have been no novel!
BAD MOVE is a story of corruption, small-town political shenanigans, corporate greed, blackmail, environmental activism, murder, more murder, paranoia, a tax accountant moonlighting as a skilled dominatrix, a gardener (well, actually a pot farmer! And doesn’t that make for an off-the-wall variation on your neighbourhood watch group), plus a lovable family convinced that their father is an incorrigible bonehead.
BAD MOVE may be completely lacking in credibility but it is certainly funny and entertaining. Given that it also happens to be a debut novel, I’m pretty darn impressed!
Paul Weiss
July 10, 2018
Linwood Barclay is an author I regularly come back to, aware I will find a gripping book. Most of his books are solid four-star ratings, but I have had a single five-star rating (A Tap on the Window) and a three-star rating (Broken Promise), hence why I always return for more. Despite the numerous Linwood Barclay books I have read, due to the delay in printing them in the UK, I never got the chance to read his original series. Fortunately, the Zack Walker mysteries have been made available in the UK and I’m now able to dive in.
Bad Move was a great debut novel, and it would have certainly left me picking up more Linwood Barclay were I not already a fan. I really did have so much fun with the story and the characters, resulting in my willingness to dive straight into book two. It was filled with all I have come to enjoy about Linwood Barclay mysteries – the gripping storyline, the steady build-up, and the intertwined storylines. In addition to the usual Linwood Barclay goodness, this one also contains some humour.
I’m talking dark humour here. Not to the level of Stuart MacBride – I do not know of any other crime authors who go to the length of MacBride to have readers in pain from laughing – but it was certainly enough to have me chuckling throughout. It was a subtle dark humour, and whenever it hit the laugher would bubble free before I could do anything to stop it.
Honestly, I had so much fun with Zack Walker. I was sucked in deep, finding the book extremely hard to put down. I was turning page after page, finding myself desperate to see how everything came together. There were a few obvious elements, but these added to the humour of the story, and plenty of twists, which left you more than happy with how every tied together.
Without a doubt, I’m glad the Zack Walker books have finally been published in the UK so I can enjoy them.
Bad Move was a great debut novel, and it would have certainly left me picking up more Linwood Barclay were I not already a fan. I really did have so much fun with the story and the characters, resulting in my willingness to dive straight into book two. It was filled with all I have come to enjoy about Linwood Barclay mysteries – the gripping storyline, the steady build-up, and the intertwined storylines. In addition to the usual Linwood Barclay goodness, this one also contains some humour.
I’m talking dark humour here. Not to the level of Stuart MacBride – I do not know of any other crime authors who go to the length of MacBride to have readers in pain from laughing – but it was certainly enough to have me chuckling throughout. It was a subtle dark humour, and whenever it hit the laugher would bubble free before I could do anything to stop it.
Honestly, I had so much fun with Zack Walker. I was sucked in deep, finding the book extremely hard to put down. I was turning page after page, finding myself desperate to see how everything came together. There were a few obvious elements, but these added to the humour of the story, and plenty of twists, which left you more than happy with how every tied together.
Without a doubt, I’m glad the Zack Walker books have finally been published in the UK so I can enjoy them.
April 11, 2024
4.5 Stars
I think this was Linwood Barclays' debut novel, which was really good.
Zack Walker is a family man in the small town of Oakwood.
He loves his family but is forever counseling them on forgetfulness. Especially his wife Sarah and his two teenage kids.
After Zack finds a dead body on a walk, he becomes paranoid that some people actually think he did it.
He becomes so paranoid that his family actually thinks he's finally losing it.
Very well written characters. Especially Zacks son Paul, who is quite funny.
A murder mystery told in different way.
I think this was Linwood Barclays' debut novel, which was really good.
Zack Walker is a family man in the small town of Oakwood.
He loves his family but is forever counseling them on forgetfulness. Especially his wife Sarah and his two teenage kids.
After Zack finds a dead body on a walk, he becomes paranoid that some people actually think he did it.
He becomes so paranoid that his family actually thinks he's finally losing it.
Very well written characters. Especially Zacks son Paul, who is quite funny.
A murder mystery told in different way.
dnf
January 20, 2015I made it about 75% through this book, realized it was a chore more than a pleasure, and decided to stop reading. One of my least favorite plots is "someone does something stupid, then does something even more stupid to cover up the first thing, and then the whole thing snowballs out of his control." This book just wasn't for me.
January 12, 2020
Always enjoy a good Linwood Barclay novel. It really made me laugh in parts. Quick read.
I know I read it before but I decided I was going to read the series so I wanted to refresh my memory of this story.
Still funny and easy to read, although the story lacks.
I know I read it before but I decided I was going to read the series so I wanted to refresh my memory of this story.
Still funny and easy to read, although the story lacks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2011
I recently discovered Linwood Barclay through his most recent book and have been reading backwards to catch up on his previous books. This is one of his earlier ones and you can tell the difference.
This book had a lot more humor in it than the later ones but I grew annoyed at the author spending pages trying to prove that the protagonist Zach is an asshole. Why? Well, before moving to the suburbs, Zach was very safety conscious and apparently his wife and teen son and daughter are complete idiots who do not bother to lock doors when they all are in bed or away from home, lock cars, are in the habit of leaving all of the keys in the front door or unlocked car, leave purses in unattended shopping carts, and leave backpacks at the top of the stairs for people to trip over. Doesn't sound like he's an asshole to me for trying to get them to behave responsibly. I grew up in a big city and have always lived in the city yet I have seen suburban friends and even rural ones robbed and burglarized. Sounds like Zach's wife Sarah, son Paul, and daughter Angie are just stupid to me.
While living in the city, Zach is trying to write a sci-fi book though there is little sign in this book of him doing any work at all. Wife Sarah works as an editor to the city paper. When their area becomes plagued with hookers, druggies, and gang thugs, and especially after a neighbor's 5 year old daughter is kidnapped and murdered (found in a fridge), Zach gets his wife to agree to move to the suburbs to a cookie cutter bedroom community of matching houses on streets with stupid names. The premise of the book is that living in the suburbs can be murder.
Neighbors include a child killer who grows pot in a home owned by an Asian syndicate, an accountant who earns more money as a dominatrix than in her work doing accounting, an environmentalist who is murdered for trying to protect the creek and salamanders, several crooked (and blackmailed) politicians, a crooked real estate baron and his hired psychopath. And people tell me my neighbors may be dangerous in the city!
Zach finds the dead environmentalist after hearing the crooked real estate guy have a violent argument with him in the office while trying to get the man to fix his shoddy plumbing (the man sends his hired goon who fixes nothing but steals from Zach's home). Later, in a store, he thinks Sarah left her purse unattended in the cart so to teach her a lesson, he sneaks it out to the trunk. He is certainly surprised later when she comes out and he finds she is wearing a fanny pack. It was not her purse. A normal guy would just go to the store and say he found it outside but Zach is a complete fool.
This causes a bizarre and dangerous set of events to follow which include a run-in with all kinds of unsavory weirdos, a big python, a psychopath, a couple of murderers, and a lot of running for his life. There is a lot of excitement here, a lot of humor (fitted in naturally, it is not stuck out as comedy), and a lot of danger for Zach and his family. I do recommend this book. It was a fun mystery to read and solve.
This book had a lot more humor in it than the later ones but I grew annoyed at the author spending pages trying to prove that the protagonist Zach is an asshole. Why? Well, before moving to the suburbs, Zach was very safety conscious and apparently his wife and teen son and daughter are complete idiots who do not bother to lock doors when they all are in bed or away from home, lock cars, are in the habit of leaving all of the keys in the front door or unlocked car, leave purses in unattended shopping carts, and leave backpacks at the top of the stairs for people to trip over. Doesn't sound like he's an asshole to me for trying to get them to behave responsibly. I grew up in a big city and have always lived in the city yet I have seen suburban friends and even rural ones robbed and burglarized. Sounds like Zach's wife Sarah, son Paul, and daughter Angie are just stupid to me.
While living in the city, Zach is trying to write a sci-fi book though there is little sign in this book of him doing any work at all. Wife Sarah works as an editor to the city paper. When their area becomes plagued with hookers, druggies, and gang thugs, and especially after a neighbor's 5 year old daughter is kidnapped and murdered (found in a fridge), Zach gets his wife to agree to move to the suburbs to a cookie cutter bedroom community of matching houses on streets with stupid names. The premise of the book is that living in the suburbs can be murder.
Neighbors include a child killer who grows pot in a home owned by an Asian syndicate, an accountant who earns more money as a dominatrix than in her work doing accounting, an environmentalist who is murdered for trying to protect the creek and salamanders, several crooked (and blackmailed) politicians, a crooked real estate baron and his hired psychopath. And people tell me my neighbors may be dangerous in the city!
Zach finds the dead environmentalist after hearing the crooked real estate guy have a violent argument with him in the office while trying to get the man to fix his shoddy plumbing (the man sends his hired goon who fixes nothing but steals from Zach's home). Later, in a store, he thinks Sarah left her purse unattended in the cart so to teach her a lesson, he sneaks it out to the trunk. He is certainly surprised later when she comes out and he finds she is wearing a fanny pack. It was not her purse. A normal guy would just go to the store and say he found it outside but Zach is a complete fool.
This causes a bizarre and dangerous set of events to follow which include a run-in with all kinds of unsavory weirdos, a big python, a psychopath, a couple of murderers, and a lot of running for his life. There is a lot of excitement here, a lot of humor (fitted in naturally, it is not stuck out as comedy), and a lot of danger for Zach and his family. I do recommend this book. It was a fun mystery to read and solve.
January 6, 2010
Well, I wanted to be annoyed by this book; You know the guy who always does the most stupid thing in any situation? This book is about that. But I kept reading until the end (I was stuck on a plane). It had it's moments, but I guess I wouldn't recommend it - there is so much other good stuff out there..
October 28, 2017
I was lucky enough to win this book as a giveaway. This is the 2nd Linwood Barclay book I have read and I quite liked the first one, hence entering the giveaway competition.
I did enjoy this book. I'd probably give it a 3.5 out of 5, although it was closer to a 4 more than a 3. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the humorous tone of the book. I found it exciting especially from around the half way point and liked the main character (mainly due to his nerdy love of sci-fi). I also felt the book was the perfect length.
My main faults with it were that it had too many coincidences and the main character's actions were sometimes questionable. I couldn't tell if I was meant to side with the main character or not on the issues he had with his family because although he thinks himself an idiot and the other characters criticised him, I found myself taking his side . Surely no one wants their family to *mild spoiler* leave their keys in the door or in the car and leave items on the floor at the top of the stairs for people to trip over. I found his family a bit annoying because of this. They were acting like he had the problem, when in reality they were just being lazy and careless.
Overall though I found it a nice easy enjoyable read and I will look out for the other books in the series.
I did enjoy this book. I'd probably give it a 3.5 out of 5, although it was closer to a 4 more than a 3. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the humorous tone of the book. I found it exciting especially from around the half way point and liked the main character (mainly due to his nerdy love of sci-fi). I also felt the book was the perfect length.
My main faults with it were that it had too many coincidences and the main character's actions were sometimes questionable. I couldn't tell if I was meant to side with the main character or not on the issues he had with his family because although he thinks himself an idiot and the other characters criticised him, I found myself taking his side . Surely no one wants their family to *mild spoiler* leave their keys in the door or in the car and leave items on the floor at the top of the stairs for people to trip over. I found his family a bit annoying because of this. They were acting like he had the problem, when in reality they were just being lazy and careless.
Overall though I found it a nice easy enjoyable read and I will look out for the other books in the series.
August 18, 2012
This book was an excellent combination of humor and mystery. Zack Walker, a safety-conscious science fiction writer moves to the 'burbs with his wife and two teenage kids, only to become entangled in a local crime. His focus on demonstrating to his wife and children the safety and security error of their ways is both funny and relatable (at least being married to my husband). In contrast to many amateur sleuths, Zack is properly terrified and freaked out by the mess he finds himself in, which makes the story much more realistic and suspenseful.
September 25, 2016
DNF- I tried and tried to get thru this and I just couldn't ... I really like Linwood Barclay as an author- I kept picking this book up, putting it down, going back to it, then I just couldn't do it. Maybe if I see the 2nd book in this series at my library, I'll pick it up- there are so many 'good' reviews of this book and this series- it just may be worth giving it another shot.... *sigh*
September 10, 2016
First in the Zach Walker series. Entertaining and funny. T here was one plot element that had Zach making such a monumentally stupid decision that it nearly lost me. However, things picked up after that and I was able to get past it. Not bad for a first novel. I shall read more in the future
July 16, 2020
grammar:
p75: Surely this beat a guy who just got his head stuck in a storm drain and drowned.
Dysfunctional heroes.
p75: Surely this beat a guy who just got his head stuck in a storm drain and drowned.
Dysfunctional heroes.
March 22, 2022
A quirky fun read. Looking forward to the rest of the Zack Walker series.
August 16, 2014
How good is Bad Move? I took it out to the pool and didn't stop reading-- and laughing-- until I'd finished it. Zack Walker may be a self-professed jerk, but he's an endearing one. All he wants to do is keep his family safe. He thinks the exact same things I think-- when I see a woman walk off leaving her open purse in her shopping cart at the grocery store for example-- but he has the bravery (or perhaps stupidity) to follow through on those thoughts. Naturally every well-intentioned thing he does gets him in so much hot water he may as well rent space in the local hospital's burn unit.
Every character in the cast is a gem-- from his long-suffering (and loving) wife and kids to Housecoat Woman who constantly hoses down her driveway. Part of the charm of this book is watching Zack learn that the location of his new home is every bit as strange as the city-- even if you can't get good Chinese takeout in the burbs.
Sometimes a book is ruined when you read it and know what's going to happen every time. Although I did know what was going to happen in many instances, what kept me thoroughly engaged was seeing how Zack would react to each situation. Second guessing him wasn't always a sure thing.
If you're in the mood for something light and hilarious, by all means get your hands on a copy of Bad Move. I've already ordered Bad Guys, the second book in this series because I've fallen head over heels for Zack the lovable jerk.
Every character in the cast is a gem-- from his long-suffering (and loving) wife and kids to Housecoat Woman who constantly hoses down her driveway. Part of the charm of this book is watching Zack learn that the location of his new home is every bit as strange as the city-- even if you can't get good Chinese takeout in the burbs.
Sometimes a book is ruined when you read it and know what's going to happen every time. Although I did know what was going to happen in many instances, what kept me thoroughly engaged was seeing how Zack would react to each situation. Second guessing him wasn't always a sure thing.
If you're in the mood for something light and hilarious, by all means get your hands on a copy of Bad Move. I've already ordered Bad Guys, the second book in this series because I've fallen head over heels for Zack the lovable jerk.
April 20, 2015
Zack Walker, klutz extraordinaire, moves his family from a high crime city neighbourhood to the suburb of Oakwood where boredom is the order of the day. His kids object to losing their friends. His wife has to drive farther to her city reporter's job. But he can work at home as a writer of science fiction. Then everything seems to go wrong.
His house shows the signs of a Gerry builder. He stumbles on the body of the local environmentalist face down in the creek he sought to save.
In another of his attempts to teach his family to lock their doors, not leave backpacks at the top of the stairs, or for his wife to leave her purse unattended, he picks up his wife's purse from her shopping cart to hide it. Only its not his wife's! When he opens this alien purse later it is like opening a Pandora's box of crises. Another dead body. Counterfeit money. And on and on it goes in a laughable romp through suburbia.
To add to it all, his neighbours are not as innocent as they seem. Will his wife and kids ever speak to him again? Will he be charged with murder? Will he escape from the murderer? What a character, I haven't laughed so much at a mystery in a long, long time.
His house shows the signs of a Gerry builder. He stumbles on the body of the local environmentalist face down in the creek he sought to save.
In another of his attempts to teach his family to lock their doors, not leave backpacks at the top of the stairs, or for his wife to leave her purse unattended, he picks up his wife's purse from her shopping cart to hide it. Only its not his wife's! When he opens this alien purse later it is like opening a Pandora's box of crises. Another dead body. Counterfeit money. And on and on it goes in a laughable romp through suburbia.
To add to it all, his neighbours are not as innocent as they seem. Will his wife and kids ever speak to him again? Will he be charged with murder? Will he escape from the murderer? What a character, I haven't laughed so much at a mystery in a long, long time.
January 23, 2018
A hyper-paranoid writer decides that the city is becoming too dangerous for his family, so he moves them all to the suburbs.
Because his family just don't pay attention to safety (leaving doors unlocked, or not putting things away, etc.) he annoys them by lecturing and then by "teaching them lessons", mocking up disasters that they have "caused" by doing something unsafe.
As the result of trying to teach his wife a lesson, he inadvertently stumbles across something that he shouldn't have and then (being an idiot) he tries to cover the traces of his idiocy with ridiculous results.
(This is a very annoying protagonist--it's impossible to understand why his wife married him.)
Because his family just don't pay attention to safety (leaving doors unlocked, or not putting things away, etc.) he annoys them by lecturing and then by "teaching them lessons", mocking up disasters that they have "caused" by doing something unsafe.
As the result of trying to teach his wife a lesson, he inadvertently stumbles across something that he shouldn't have and then (being an idiot) he tries to cover the traces of his idiocy with ridiculous results.
(This is a very annoying protagonist--it's impossible to understand why his wife married him.)
July 25, 2015
1st book in the Zack Walker series by Linwood Barclay.
I believe that this was the first book ever published by one of my favourite authors Linwood Barclay and I wasn't disappointed. Very different from his usual style but nevertheless very entertaining and a good read. Contains more humour than normal but made an interesting change to his normal writing style. I will certainly be reading more books in this series.
I believe that this was the first book ever published by one of my favourite authors Linwood Barclay and I wasn't disappointed. Very different from his usual style but nevertheless very entertaining and a good read. Contains more humour than normal but made an interesting change to his normal writing style. I will certainly be reading more books in this series.
January 15, 2022
Unfortunately I cannot give 6 stars...what an amazing thriller! It deliveries everything, I read it in 3 days and I can't wait to read the whole series. Also I love the good and unexpected dose of humour there.
June 11, 2011
A really good book. 1st of his I've read and can't wait to read the next in this great series.
November 2, 2022
Bad move is a thriller sprinkled with humor, that has you cringing and laughing as you rapidly turn the pages. The premise is a paranoid dad moves his family from the dangerous city to the suburbs only to find himself directly intertwined in a murder. Even though I didn't like the main character, it was a surprisingly enjoyable read.
January 17, 2020
Borrei-me.
January 16, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. Lots of suspense mixed with humor. I couldn't put the book down. Looking forward to reading the 2nd in the series.
September 13, 2011
Very easy reading. I really liked the characters in this book and their dialogue. Zach is a bit of a Homer Simpson family man, he has a heart of gold but sometimes he ends up acting like an asshole and its some of his brainless decisions that get the wacky plot set in motion. There's a lot of humour here and I loved how the relationships within the family were written with plenty of sarcasm and attitude.
That being said the murder mystery element to this book isn't something which will appeal to those looking for a serious mystery crime type novel, its more Murder She Wrote than Law and Order so expect a little silliness and unrealistic coincidences here and there. Its a light read which is really as much about the characters and the humour as it is about the plot. If that's what you're looking for then this is an enjoyable book.
That being said the murder mystery element to this book isn't something which will appeal to those looking for a serious mystery crime type novel, its more Murder She Wrote than Law and Order so expect a little silliness and unrealistic coincidences here and there. Its a light read which is really as much about the characters and the humour as it is about the plot. If that's what you're looking for then this is an enjoyable book.
August 16, 2020
This book is absolutely hilarious. Zack Walker is a sci-fi writer who is also obsessed with safety for his family. He convinced them to move to the suburbs, but he continuously gives them all safety lectures. It turns out that the suburbs aren't quite as safe as he'd thought, and his obsession with safety lectures backfires with laugh-out-loud results. My book club has been seeking funny books to read during the continued Covid shutdown. This book really fits the bill to uplift our spirits.
February 8, 2017
I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it either. It was just kind of blah with sporadic funny parts. The main character is overly obsessed with safety (he's constantly telling his wife and teenage children to lock the house door, remember to turn off the stove, don't talk to strangers, etc). Sometimes he gives them little "lessons" on safety which I thought were pretty funny. It's one of those "lessons" that gets him into a heap of trouble.
It has a lot of swearing.
It has a lot of swearing.
March 28, 2011
So far I haven't read a single novel by Linwood Barclay that I would rate less than four stars. This one was slightly different from the others I've read because, not only was it a mystery, filled with multiple clever twists and turns, but it was FUNNY! I love the way he plants tiny details throughout the book that the reader doesn't take any note of, but when things come together each one turns out to have been an important piece of the whole.
September 26, 2020
This is the first in a series of semi-humorous mystery\thrillers from this author whose has also written a number of stand alone thrillers. Once again, his storyboard and pacing are the best I ever read. He really knows how to take a number of seemingly unrelated events\character traits and bring them all together in a most remarkable way. This book has one very funny\ironic ending and then a twist at the end. Highly recommended.
July 29, 2009
Thoroughly competent.
This book shares a flaw with many mysteries: The first half is almost entirely character development, and the second half is almost entirely plot.
That said, the character half is very funny. The plot half was less well done, but entertaining.
This book shares a flaw with many mysteries: The first half is almost entirely character development, and the second half is almost entirely plot.
That said, the character half is very funny. The plot half was less well done, but entertaining.
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