The Walk-In by Leslie Rains is a captivating crime thriller that weaves a mysterious tale of soul transference and murder, immersing readers in a gripping narrative of suspense and intrigue.
Spoiler-free Plot
Christine was an elderly schoolteacher who had friends, a family, and a job she enjoyed. Everything seemed fine. Then one day she woke up and realized she was in a man’s body. Of course, this puts the fear of God in her but then slowly begins to remember what happened. However, as she is trying to figure out how she ended up in this position, she has to deal with thfact this man’s body has been framed for murder.
My take on The Walk-In
Crime thrillers are a dangerous affair when it comes to writing stories. A lot of people attempt but they often feel like something is lacking or that it has been done to death, which is something a lot of writers tend to struggle with. It’s a genre that requires nuances and also knowing what to do with the situation that has been established.
Leslie Rains is an interesting author because she decides to establish a very strong setting and then runs with it in quite a steady fashion. The character of Christine is endearing from the get-go because of her personality and her transition from an elderly schoolteacher to a man framed for murder. It’s a situation that is quite interesting from the get-go and it helps in getting people’s attention.
However, the most interesting part for me was how Leslie managed to develop the mystery of how Christine’s soul ended up in that body. It takes a bit of time to understand it but it pays off and gives the reader much-needed context about the story and the way things develop.
“About The Author Of The Walk-In
The Walk-In is the debut novel for Leslie Rains. She resides in Chattanooga TN with her husband Ben. She has been an entrepreneur and graphic designer. Her loves are reading, traveling and knitting.”
I would also like to point out how digestible the entire book is. The paragraphs are short and easy to take in from the get-go, which is something that can help newcomers. Rain is a very accessible writer and her work is quite easy to take in as a first-time reader, which is always a good thing. That is an element a lot of unseasoned writers tend to struggle with and she does this extremely well.
The dialogue, though, could have used some work. This is not to say that is awful but is the least memorable part of the entire experience. Of course, it also makes sense that is one of the weakest parts because Rains is just starting as a writer and early dialogue is often the hardest part to develop as a writer. You grow into that the more you do it, so here is hoping that future works of hers can improve in that department.
The overall feeling with The Walk-In is that is quite enjoyable and easy to digest. The plot is quite straightforward in terms of what the focus is and is quite easy to summarize, which is always a good thing with a series. On the other hand, there are also a lot of interesting characters and the plot has a lot of decent pacing, which is always key when it comes to understanding how a story works.
As mentioned earlier, writing crime thrillers is something that a lot of writers tend to struggle with but Leslie Rains manages to get the most out of it. She is clearly a writer that is learning the ways of the medium but knows how to tell a good story.