Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The Crime & Beyond Book Club Reviews A Tap on the Window



Kerry Hammond returns with the report from the latest meeting of the Crime & Beyond Book Club.


Crime & Beyond met last month to discuss our April book: A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay. This was our first time reading this author, and I am sure he will be requested again based on our enjoyment of the book.

Cal Weaver is a private investigator in western/upstate New York. He has recently lost his son Scott in a tragic accident that was drug related and this has caused a rift between him and his wife. He is actively searching for any information he can find as to who provided the drugs to his son, when he finds himself in a strange situation. He is sitting in his car near a local bar in the middle of the night when there is a tap on his window. It’s a high school girl and she is asking for a ride. Even though Cal knows deep down that this is a horrible idea, four things are going on that affect his decision: it’s raining, the girl seems scared, there is a pick-up truck parked ominously nearby, and the girl tells him she knew Scott. So Cal gives her a ride and this starts a string of events that he gets caught up in, some of them even bringing him closer to the truth about his son.



The book got a lot of really good reviews and the average was between 7-8. It was a fast, entertaining read and the characters were well developed. There were some twists and turns as we went along, most of which were complete surprises (always a good thing). 

We had quite an interesting discussion about the event that started the whole book, Scott picking up a high school girl in the middle of the night and giving her a ride. These days that kind of thing is definitely a no-no, and most people would avoid it like the plague. However, the author was able to create a set of circumstances where you really weren’t surprised that Scott gave her the ride, and could actually see how he could have gotten stuck in a situation where it could and would happen. You didn’t have to suspend your disbelief in order to further the story, you could see how it could happen.









2 comments:

  1. A Tap on the Window looks soo good. Our club could really get into that one. We are currently reading Mell Corcoran's Shadows of Doubt, mellcorcoran.com is her site. We loved it and I recommend it highly!

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  2. I love Linwood Barclay and have an autographed book!

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