Tom and Anna Reed are just an ordinary couple living a quiet life. Everything is going along swimmingly except that they’re a bit in debt and trying to start a family with the help of medical assistance. Then one night, their tenant downstairs almost sets the house on fire, as this hermit-like man dies in his sleep due to an overdose of pills. That’s when they make a shocking discovery that of $400,000 hidden in the pantry.
Where this money came from, they have no idea; perhaps their tenant was just a miser who did not believe in banks. So they figure “finders keepers,” and no one else needs to know about it, especially now that all their bills can be taken care of in one fell swoop, no questions asked. But things are never that easy, not even for GOOD PEOPLE.
Marcus Sakey’s newest novel shows how greed can corrupt even people who are, at their heart, nice and decent folks. He’s put together a tight little thriller that never gets bogged down by extraneous subplots or confusing misdirection, since it’s made clear early on that the people the Reeds will mess with are not in any way Boy Scouts.
The money in question is from a drug buy/robbery which left two men dead, with the late tenant being the shooter who double-crossed his partners, who are none too pleased they’ve been burnt out of their share. Things really take a turn for the worse when it’s discovered that Tom and Anna have the money and plan on keeping it, putting them into a world they have no reason to be part of.
This is the type of crime novel that will win over non-crime fans in a big way, because it’s so relatable to the workings of real life. Think to yourself if you were in the Reeds’ position: Would you take the same route? Even at the costs that will have to be paid, after it’s all said and done? Sakey writes with such a clear vision of his characters, fully developing what could have easily been stereotypes.
GOOD PEOPLE will definitely be a bright light on 2008′s year-end list of crime fiction, since it’s a fresh take on an idea we might have seen before, given freshness by Sakey’s brilliant writing. Crime fans can only hope that the author hasn’t even scratched the surface of his rising talent. —Bruce Grossman
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds quite “A Simple Plan”-ish, but if it’s written well, that’s not a bad thing.
THe similarities with a Simple Plan end at the finding of the money