Bad Move

Starred review from May 31, 2004
Riotously funny and irreverent, Canadian journalist Barclay's mystery debut is a rollicking good read. When Zack Walker, a sometimes cranky and always paranoid science fiction writer, moves with his family from the city to Valley Forest Estates, he soon finds that life in the suburbs can be dangerous, even deadly. Envious of a childhood friend who once found a drowning victim, Zack gets his wish and stumbles across the body of Samuel Spender, a zealous conservationist who'd been trying to prevent the final phase of Valley Forest's construction around the habitat of a rare salamander. In his campaign, Spender made several enemies, including the subdivision's sales manager, Don Greenway. Zack, who witnessed a heated argument between Spender and Greenway the day the conservationist died, is soon neck-deep in trouble when he finds a second body, a cache of cash and a canister of undeveloped film. Murder, blackmail and extortion are just the tip of the iceberg, as Zack realizes some very nasty people want what he has and will stop at nothing to get it. While Zack is an amazingly flawed hero, he's a breath of fresh air with no illusions about his odd compulsions and his limited abilities. His often exasperated wife Sarah makes the perfect comic foil. Fans of lighter crime capers will rejoice. Agent, Helen Heller.

May 1, 2004
Paranoid science-fiction author Zack Walker, his wife, and two teenagers move from the city to the suburbs, where they hope to be safe from crime. But Zack still sees disaster in the making everywhere: front doors left unlocked, backpacks at the top of the stairs, and a curling iron left plugged in by his daughter. Therefore, Zack decides to teach his family a series of lessons so they will learn to be more careful. Teaching his wife to watch her purse while shopping leads to a series of events that spiral out of control, going from bad to worse, as Zack gets mixed up in fraud, blackmail, and murder. With the bad guys close behind, Zack, along with a couple of eccentric neighbors, must find a murderer before he and his family are hurt or killed. Fast pacing, well-drawn characters, and a look at the life of a science-fiction writer add to the pleasure of this humorous first-person account in which the suburbs turn out to be no guarantee of personal safety.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)