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.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy