Linwood Barclay’s LONE WOLF marks the third of the Zack Walker series which began with BAD MOVE and BAD GUYS. Zack is a part-time reporter and science fiction author, and this entry won me over on the very first page.

There, Zack is speaking with his friend Trixie, a dominatrix. She’s in the process of dressing up like a Klingon for one of her sessions, prepping to beat a client dressed like a captain of the Enterprise. In other words, pop-culture geeks: This is a book for you, filled with little such tidbits, be it a debate over Marvel vs. DC, or Mace Windu vs. Lando Calrissian. (But my favorite is calling out EYES WIDE SHUT for the piece of crap that is.)

Onto the story: Zack gets a call from his wife Sarah about a dead body discovered on the campsite owned by his father, who’s nowhere to be found. Zack rushes up to the area of Braynor, only to be met by the local sheriff who suspects a bear attack is to blame, but Zack has his doubts. Then his father turns up fine, letting Zack relax.

Well, for all of a few minutes. You see, dear old Dad has rented a house to a very strange family named the Wickenses. This is a scary lot, folks – witness the framed picture of Timonty McVeigh on their mantle. Yep, the family is a bunch of radical lunatics, except maybe the boyfriend of the Wickenses’ daughter, because he is identified as the dead body. But the patriarch makes members of the KKK look pleasant by comparison, and it seems the family has its own set of sinister ideas in dealing with the locals.

LONE WOLF proves itself as a great, taut thriller with fun pop-culture references – a type of which we need more. From the start, the book sucks you right into its core and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Now, in my best Shatner impression: “BARCLAY!” –Rod Lott

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