Marty Slack is a TV network executive. He has the right house in the right zip code. He eats at the right restaurants, getting reservations for the right tables. Living in Los Angeles, he thinks he’s prepared for earthquakes. He’s spent money on tons of supplies and has food and water carefully stored away at home. But when the big one hits, he’s downtown checking out a new location for a TV show being filmed, miles away from his gated community residence. With roads jam packed with crashed cars, he has no choice but to begin The Walk home.

Along the way, he meets a variety of interesting characters, from a hard-boiled bounty hunter to an elderly former actress spending her days in the sun. He witnesses death and destruction on a monstrous scale. Marty learns about sacrifice and redemption. And maybe just a bit about being what he believes is a “real man.”

First, the good–the book is well plotted and an excellent read. Lee Goldberg is not only a novelist but works in the TV industry, which shows in this book as many scenes are written in a very visual sense. Marty isn’t a cardboard cut out. He changes and grows as the story progresses. His reactions to the various situations are authentic and well written. There is as much going on inside Marty’s head as there is in the real world around him.

Complaints–There is a twist at the end that I saw coming miles away. I had held out hope that the twist would actually be a non-twist. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t detract from the overall story. I just wish the author hadn’t gone that route.

All in all, The Walk is a fun read and well worth the price of admission. Buy it here.