The Money Harvest

A novel involving characters of different ages and milieaus who interact partly by chance and partly deliberately, sometimes almost randomly, sometimes with intricately plotted treachery in a continuously entertaining and enlightening concise narration. The cast includes members of Congress, the bar, criminals, agriculture department statisticians and commodity speculators.

The Money Harvest by Ross Thomas takes place in the Washington, D.C. of 1975. The protagonist of this rather unlikely tale answers to the name Jake Pope. Having overcome his impoverished roots in rural West Virginia, Jake went on to distinguish himself as one of the U.S. Senate's most formidable investigators. Now he finds himself called upon to foil a bold scheme to manipulate the wheat futures market. Thomas has populated this wickedly funny novel with an abundance of interestingly drawn characters. From a corrupt former Congressman to a ruthless and sadistic Chicago gangster to a wife-beating agricultural econonmist, these are literary creations notable for being over-the-top, exaggerated caricatures of real life personality types. Written with an insider's keen knowledge of how things get done within the unique world of Washington, The Money Harvest is delightfully cynical and unapologetically irreverent. This is not Ross Thomas' best novel nor is it his worst. It falls somewhere right in the middle. But an average Ross Thomas novel runs rings around 90% of the fiction currently on bookstore shelves. Recommended to those who appreciate good satire.

This book demonstrates one of the strengths of Ross Thomas's writing, a grounding in truth derived from experience. His own backgrown allowed him a number of jobs that touched on politics, labor organizations, and public relations. He understands the behind the scenes aspects of financial and political power and he uses that knowledge to great effect in The Money Harvest. This is a political thriller that feels like it is true. No exaggerations and no two dimensional characters. This is the real stuff of human give and take, betrayal, murder and coverup. Like all of his books, the central figure is confronted with a world where nothing is as it seems and no one, seemingly, can be trusted.If you enjoy a mystery, interesting character presentation, surprising plot twists, wonderful dialogue and a satisfying conclusion, you will love this book. I started reading Ross Thomas because I enjoy books set in Washington, DC - but this proved to be the least important reason to read him. His books aren't 'inside the beltway' books so much as they are human stories of intrique, betrayal and survival. He wrote a lot about Washington because he lived here but what one gets in the full range of Thomas's writing is the modern world in all its ugly and beautiful complexity, seen from the somewhat cynical eyes of one who has seen, perhaps, too much.

It's a fun little romp that just keeps you wanting to read another page,with characters so vivdly described you can see them standing at the corner.You keep reading just find out what happens next.