CON TEST: Double Life (A Mystery) [Kindle Edition]

Rahiem Brooks (Author), Jenetha McCutcheon (Editor), Twenty-First Street Urban Editing (Editor), Greg Goodwin (Illustrator), BJ Shores (Photographer)

Book Description

William Fortune is a novelist who has created spine-jolting and masterful crime thrillers that catapults him to the Best Sellers List and blockbuster films. His prismatic life is being chased down by the intricately mystifying Justice Lorenzo, a con man who has been feeding William his plots for years. All is well considering Williams earnings keep Justice Lorenzo on the run from the Secret Service for identity theft, fraud related crimes, and the unthinkable: murder.

A problem arises when Justice demands that William write his latest novel, DOUBLE LIFE, with the exact facts that placed Justice on the run. William refuses because that may lead to Justices arrest, and maybe his too, as an accessory after the fact. As a result Williams finds himself kidnapped, tortured and his wife doing the unthinkable to get the ransom money.

The action in CON TEST brings LAPD and the Philadelphia Secret Service Agency to a complete halt and readers will be baffled to find that Williams fiction novel jolts to life. And, yes the words to Williams novel are printed between the covers of CON TEST, so readers get two stories in one. This CON TEST is far more gratifying than the Lakers and Celtics rivalry. Justice and William will square off and you will find the victor in CON TEST.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Brooks thoroughly know Los Angles, Philadelphia and most important white collar crime! --Marcus Gary, Legend Management Group

Mr. Brooks has produced a gem of a story with a highly provocative male scent to it that will surely make your blood pressure rise. --Author Barbara Grovner

Rahiem Brooks does a fabulous job of weaving a tale that will make you want to jump ahead to figure out what is going to happen next. --Niccole Simmons, Editor Twenty-First Street Urban Editing

The creative side of the author, Rahiem Brooks, he intertwines the story within a story to see the real story of his characters as the reader waits for the mystery of the story to unleash.  --Adrienna Turner, Reviewer Dream 4 More Firm

Product Details

• File Size: 396 KB
• Print Length: 298 pages
• Publisher: Prodigy Publishing Group; 1 edition (March 30, 2011)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004UN4EH8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #472,128 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Blueprint... September 21, 2011

By L. Taylor VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Loved this story...the action...the characters...the plot...simply loved it.

Justice Lorenzo is very intelligent Villanova student and an even better identity thief.

William Fortune is a highly acclaimed writer of crime mystery books and screen plays.

These men have a common thread.What could that thread be?

This book was supposed to take me couple of days to finish...Umph!How about 6 interrupted hours. I was pulled in from the first page...grabbed and held hostage by the halfway point and fully engrossed until the end.This is a very good crime mystery.I thought Mr.Brooks did a good job with Laugh Now but he did a DAYUM GOOD job with Con Test:Double Life.

4.50 rating.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Fortune October 12, 2011

By L. Romich VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Con Test by Rahiem Brooks is the story of novelist William Fortune and his muse Justice Lorenzo. William Fortune's novels have made the Best Sellers list and there have even been movies based off of his novels. William Fortune keeps a low profile, nobody, not even the press knows what he looks like. So the bidding price to get an one-on-one interview with this best-selling novelist is high. There is a reason why Mr. Fortune keeps such a low profile and when you find out, you will surely be stunned.

Justice Lorenzo is a con man, whom for years has been the 'muse' to William. In truth, Justice has been the one telling William exactly what to write, telling his story and letting William pen the cons he has committed into a fictional account. Justice has committed such crimes, from identity theft, fraud and even murder. When William refuses to write the story exactly the way Justice tells him to, a chain of events are set off and the "truth" will be revealed.

Con Test by Rahiem Brooks is a fresh and original novel that has so many twists and turns you are sure to get a headrush trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Mr. Brooks is a talented author, that knows how to weave a tale that will have a reader on the edge of his/her seat. The problem lies within the fact that some of the story read as familiar. Familiar from his previous novel Laugh Now. Meaning a big chunk of the storyline that was written in the first novel was within the storyline of this novel. Not only that, there was a character that was constantly mentioned throughout the novel that just seemed to disappear at the end of the novel. I questioned Mr. Brooks and got an unsatisfactory answer regarding this. Regardless, Con Test was definitely a good read.... Had I not read Laugh Now, I would have rated this a little higher.

Reviewed by Leona
StreetLitClique Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read! June 23, 2011

By SmartChick

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Not only is this novel a very informative way to protect your identity and money but it was very entertaining as well. This fictional book was a full movement not leaving any stone unturned. I could see there being a sequel to this novel but it can stand very well on it's own. I liked how the characters all had their own issues going on within themselves and the author touched basis on everyone's problems. You never lost site of the story at hand and I like how the twists and turns kept me guessing. I felt sorry for my brother Justice. I know all too well how he felt and trying to start over is not always easy. Lundin Fortune was my CHICK though. I appreciate the way she held it down for her man. Overall, I really great read and a full movement, as this is not a short read!! Great JOb!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ENTERTAINING, THRILLED, SUSPENSEFUL, WONDERFUL READ May 19, 2012

By L. Bingham

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

ONCE AGAIN I ENJOYED READING A BOOK BY MR. RAHIEM BROOKS, OMG I WAS ON THE EDGE OF EVERY PAGE, I EVEN ENVISIONED MYSELF A CHARACTER IN BOOK, THAT'S HOW A GOOD OF A READ THIS WAS FOR ME, I WILL GIVE THIS BOOK A TEN STAR. LOVED IT

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Flip the Script on Double Life April 4, 2011

By Dream 4 More Book Reviews

Format:Kindle Edition

The author (Rahiem Brooks) sets up the scene in the first chapter, a scene for disaster about to happen at Wachovia Bank, where a cunning robbery takes place right in the teller's face without any fingerprints to leave a trail behind. Justice Lorenzo had a photographic memory and good with numbers for his line of dirty work. He's linked to Loss Prevention for his Identity Theft crimes, but nothing can stick because no fingerprints, surveillance cameras recycle their tapes every few months and his crime happened several months back, and he's on a roll without a trace. He's learned the system after doing this crime for twenty-four years.

On the other hand, William Fortune points out some writing issues and choices that authors have to make because their publishers are not necessarily into a good story but one that is salable.

There are some parts of the story that are action-packed, brilliantly written and jovial, as we gather into William's character--some parts are a tad bit slow but cleverly linking the pieces together with the fast-lane, action-thriller, identity theft criminal known as Justice (JL). We have good boy versus bad boy. We see a story weaved into a fictional story that holds some truth because his buddy feeds it to him. The creative side of the author, Rahiem Brooks, he intertwines the story within a story to see the real story of his characters as the reader waits for the mystery of the story to unleash.

Dream 4 More Reviews received an advanced reader's copy (pdf) from the author for a book review.

Dream 4 More Reviews,
Adrienna Turner
Wooed Me Dream!

More About the Author

Rahiem Jerome Brooks is the breakout novelist and is a member of the Mystery Writer's of America. His debut thriller, LAUGH NOW won 2010 African-Americans on the Move Book Club's (AAMBC) Book of the Year & he earned 2011 AAMBC Author of the Year. LAUGH NOW also the Most Creative Plot at the DMV Expo's Creative Excellent Awards. Rahiem was also nominated at the 2011 & 2012 African-American Literary Awards for Mystery of the Year for Con Test and Murder in Germantown.

Rahiem Brooks worked on a Film/TV certificate program at University of California, Los Angeles; however, he currently studies journalism at Harvard University.

He permanently resides in Philadelphia, PA.