Windfall

Ben Lindberg is an untenured assistant professor at a university (been there - done that). In Ben's case, he is in the English Department at the University of Texas. Admiral Jervis of the Royal Navy is reputed to have said that junior officers should not marry. Perhaps the same philosophy should apply to junior faculty members. Ben has a wife (second marriage) and two school age children. He is in his forties and has financial problems. He is in Austin, Texas, during the real estate boom, and is priced out of the market. There is a problem finding a suitable, affordable place to rent. His van is on its last legs and he doesn't know where he will find the money for a new one. He would like to do things for his wife and children, but money is tight, and they have to watch every penny. The future retirement outlook appears skimpy. Ben goes out one evening in early January looking for the family cat, and thinks he hears it in a crawl space under an abandoned building. Instead of the cat, he finds a large cache of money - six ice chests packed full, mostly 50s and 100s. It is obviously unreported income from illegal activities and does not officially exist. Ben is caught on the horns of a dilemma. He is normally an honest man, but he badly needs money; and who would know if he helps himself. He takes the money and hides it, skimming off a bit for immediate needs. He makes a rough estimate based on bulk - over $7 million, enough to cover the annual payroll of his entire university department for many years. Ben lacks iron nerves, and having the money makes him edgy. He researches means of laundering money ranging from buying large numbers of lottery tickets to depositing the money in a bank in the Bahamas. He observes some shady looking men making inquiries, and needs to keep a low profile. He does not want to tell his wife because she might want to turn the money in to proper authorities; but needs to explain the sudden added income. It creates family problems. He makes an arrangement with one of his students to launder some of the money through a business. Then there is collateral damage. Someone is killed. Things start to fall apart. Ben has doubts about trusting the student. Universities don't teach people survival skills for the real world jungle, and there is a danger Ben will be eaten by tigers (he is not very street smart). The bad guys get a lead on Ben, and show up wanting their money. Ben's life is torn apart. There is an added twist at the end (maybe a double twist). I would note that the author is in the English Department at the University of Texas and is intimately familiar with the scenes used in the novel (his wife is from a Mississippi family). It is very well written, drawing the reader into the story and holding your attention. Readers might think of how they would have handled things but, given the same circumstances, would you have done things differently? Hindsight is always better than foresight

Ben should have told his wife, Katy, up front. Two minds are better than one and she might not have been so wobbly, stronger backbone. A good read as the reader goes along trying to figure out how to have done it differently. Some may think the latter half of the story follows standard thriller lines. See also "The Moneybag" for legal aspects of a similar situation.

Though the plotline may not cover entirely new territory, Magnuson's deft style more than makes up for it. He manages to paint a very vivid picture of the world Ben inhabits, with its moments of both happiness and terror. The reader becomes wound up in Ben's life. And, Windfall is so tightly written that it is impossible to put down.

This is the tale that make you ask the question, "What would I do?" Everyone dreams of this happening to them and this book truly shows the consequences.

Maybe I enjoyed "Windfall" so much because I also loved "A Simple Plan", and the basic plots are quite similar. Magnuson does a great job of having his main character, Ben, agonize over the questions we'd all ask when trying to hide illicit funds. How does an honest man launder money? When will the bad guys show up? How do I find a way to make this money improve, and not ruin my life?The tension is high, and I finally gave up trying to read it in bed and finished the novel during the day. I just couldn't get to sleep after a session with this story! It's not Shakespeare, but it surely was an entertaining and thought-provoking rollercoaster of a novel.