Good People: A Thriller

The Reeds are up to their ears in debt. When they're at the pit of despair, not sure how in the world they can turn their life around, they find a boat load of money. The money is calling their name. In their current situation of complete desperation, they make the only decision that seems logical, they take the money. There is no way they could have foreseen how this one decision would change their lives forever. Will they make it out alive? I was completely drawn into this book before I even finished the second page. I can usually tell from the first chapter whether or not I am going to like a book. The beginning is one of the most important pieces for an author. A good author can entice you within a few paragraphs and keep you interested for the remainder of the book. Marcus is a pro. Seriously. I can't think of one word that would really do his writing justice... I've found another author to put on my "I need everything this author writes list".

Tom and Anna Reed are the "good people" of the title. They are going about their lives, frustratingly trying to start a family by any means possible, but so far unsuccessfully, despite infertility treatments and four failed in vitro procedures, leaving them grimly unhappy and heavily in debt. Jack Witkowski, his brother Bobby, and their buddies Will and Marshall are the bad guys, petty and not-so-petty criminals who pull off an unexpectedly big score. Their lives intersect with that of the Reeds when the latter accidentally but fatefully stumble upon the nearly $400,000 cache of stolen money. The Reeds think to themselves: "It's not your money. It would be wrong." Then "Whose money is it? Why not mine? Why is it wrong?" Uncertain what to do, but desperate and out of their depth, they think "If they went to the police, they risked everything. If they didn't, they risked their lives." The detective who first investigates the crime, Chris Halden, sees solving it as a huge feather in his cap and boost to his career. "And all he had to do to get there was bring in a drug dealer . . . , four hundred grand in stolen cash, and two civilians dumb enough to try to keep it." My stomach muscles clenched as the run-up proceeds to the inevitable confrontation. The pages are filled with nerve-tingling suspense, as should be expected from the man whose book last year, "The Blade Itself," was equally taut and well-written. It must be something in the waters of Lake Michigan and its environs, but we have read some wonderful novels by Chicago authors of late, e.g., Sean Chercover, Libby Fischer Hellmann, and Michael Harvey, and to that list must be added this extraordinary writer, Marcus Sakey. I found myself torn between being unable to stop reading, mingled with anxiety at what would happen on the next page. Ultimately, it was no contest: I could not put this book down. Highly recommended.

Marcus Sakey's third book grabs the reader and holds on for the ride. He brings out weaknesses many have underlying. Who wouldn't want to find that pot of gold? The trouble, it's not a legitimate jackpot, but no one knows, do they?

Struggling middle class Tom and Anna Reed are good solid citizens who love one another. Their dream is to have a child, but infertility makes it impossible without expensive help. They do not have the money for some of the alternatives and those they have tried like in-vitro have proven futile. Helping them survive financially as they pinch pennies for their next fertility try is a reclusive tenant who pays monthly rent to them. When their hermit dies, the Reeds worry about how they will survive without his income coming in monthly. They enter their late lodger's room to clean it out only to find four-hundred thousand dollars. Unable to resist what both feel is an easy windfall that no one will know about except themselves, this will allow them to attempt again to fulfill their dream of a child. However, neither understands that their deceased boarder left behind some irate Windy City associates who believe the ill-gotten loot belongs to them; these dangerous thugs do not mind the use of force including breaking limbs or even murder and their sights are set on the Reeds. This exciting thriller uses a typical American suburban family trying to fulfill their dream that places them in extreme danger from deadly mobsters who believe their ill-gotten loot belongs to them as the late tenant double-crossed them. Where else would a mobster hide than in the burbs; making for quite a contrast between middle class American and the mob will sort of remind readers of the haunting contrasting final scene of the Cagney film Public Enemy. Readers will appreciate this strong thriller as the American dream turns nightmarish when the Reeds become avaricious in achieving their personal quest as Marcus Sakey asks his audience would you ethically turn in $400,000 that you believe no one knows you found. Harriet Klausner

In GOOD PEOPLE, Marcus Sakey skillfully manages the difficult task of creating and maintaining a narrative line whose tone is both ruthless and tender. The novel is a tightrope walk between extremes: good and evil, temptation and redemption, safety and danger, security and risk, duplicity and trust, and greed and compassion. Tom and Anna Reed are the young couple at the heart of the novel who discover just how dark that heart can become when they find and then try to hold onto close to four-hundred-thousand dollars that turn out to belong to some very bad men. Just how far Tom and Anna are willing to go to keep the money and still lay claim to the book's title makes Sakey's novel a page-turner as well as literary character study with not one but two twist endings. Highly recommended.