Title: Lust, Money & Murder (books 1-3)
Author: Mike Wells
Genre: Thriller:
Review:
This book kicks off with a breakneck pace and never slows down...I finished this book wayyy faster than I expected (which is a good thing--it means I got sucked into the story.) The whole premise is interesting and the main character definitely has a complicated history.
I think this review would be best understood if I gave some background info about Elaine, the main character of this series. Elaine was born into a poor family with an unfeeling mother and a loving father. His father loved Elaine more than anything else in the world and would do anything for her. This included stealing to provide money to send Elaine to a good private school. At that time, Elaine didn't know about her father's crimes, but as she grew older, she did become suspicious about how he was paying for her tuition. Nevertheless, she attends the school and applies for a modeling job to earn some extra cash. Unfortunately, the modeling agency she applied to was a scammed and when Elaine realizes this, she demands a refund. The agency obliges, to her surprise, and gives her $2000. Overjoyed, Elaine presents the money to her father who tries to deposit it in the bank...only to find out that the money was counterfeit. Although Elaine's father wasn't charged for counterfeiting money, the police dug around and discovered him to be guilty of multiple thefts; he is then thrown into jail. A few days later, he committed suicide. Elaine vows to get revenge by joining the secret service as someone who specializes in busting counterfeiting businesses.
The author does an excellent job describing Elaine's relationship with her father. Even though his father broke several laws, I couldn't help but have a soft spot for him. The relationship Elaine had with other characters were also well written, but the best was definitely the father-daughter bond.
The plot definitely kept me on my toes the whole time. There were many twists in turn that I didn't see coming (more on this later.) The author provided minimal detail; just enough to give readers a sense of the setting, but not enough to slow down the story. While I can say I definitely grew fond of Elaine and her determination, I can't say I grew attached to any other characters (but that's okay because Elaine is the main character after all!)
Alright, the only real gripe I had with Lust, Money & Murder is the number of plot twists involved. Yes, I like plot twists; 1-3 plot twists is good. Any more than that feels like there is too much...which was kind of the case here. Elaine meets several other characters during her career working as an agent...and it seems like every single one of them betrayed her. Starting from the modeling agent scam, it seems as if Elaine can't find a trustworthy person.
Aside from that though, this was definitely a good reader. Pretty, kick ass character + tons of action = hardcore thriller. There's no "flowery" writing (meaning no unnecessary words, which I really appreciated.) I also loved how the series ended in kind of a complete circle :-) If you like books by Lee Child, definitely check out Mike Wells' books!
Rating:
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