The unlikely detective Zack Walker returns in this searingly funny mystery thriller from the dark and witty mind of best-selling author Linwood Barclay.

Zack Walker is back, and much to his family's relief, the work-at-home science-fiction writer has left the house to take a job as a features writer for the city paper. But now that Zack's incessant plotting can no longer be hatched from the comforts of his own home, he must be ever more vigilant to outwit the evil at large, whether in the suburbs, the city, or his own imagination. Zack is ready - or so he thinks.

While researching his first feature article, Zack stumbles upon a real-life crime scene, but what seems like an ordinary hit-and-run may actually be a homicide linked to a gang that's been stealing from Crandall's high-end shops. Suddenly Zack finds himself at the centre of a violent crime wave and destined for a confrontation with Barbie Bullock, an unsettling figure infamous in the crime syndicate for his ruthless business tactics and peculiar proclivity for collecting dolls.

And all is not quiet on the home front either. Zack's protective instincts launch into overdrive when he discovers that his daughter's rejected suitor has been tracing her every step and may harbour a much more ominous motivation than winning a Saturday night date.

As worlds begin to collide and boundaries between family and foe blur, Zack goes on the attack, and heaven help the bad guys when this resourceful father comes to make good on a deal gone bad.

Read by William Hope.