Customer Reviews

Follow The Money

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a highly entertaining book that had me shaking my head at times at the sheer idiocy of the characters as they bumbled their way through their criminal endeavors. I think most of the characters would fit in well with those named on the year-end "dumbest criminals" lists. I loved the comparisons to "The Walmarts" in Chapter 3...all I could think of was the "People of Walmart" website. The way the characters re-appear in subsequent chapters is well thought out and overall I found it a very satisfying read.

Even though these are interconnected stories, the chapters all read well on their own making it easy to read a chapter at a time without feeling like I had to dedicate a whole day to reading a whole book. For me--that is a huge plus.

A review e-book copy was provided for review by the author.

This book was hilarious, right from the dedication through to the end. I still hate to admit that I have a sick and dark sense of humor, but the fact that I laughed through most of this book I think just sets that even more in stone...

The stories were so weird. They all seemed to revolve around, what most people would consider, "trash". Sadly though there were a few characters that when I started reading them I thought to myself "This is just like ..." It was both a frightening and liberating, it meant I could laugh at it because I was part of it.

For being short stories the characters are very well developed. The fact that some of them carry through one or two of the stories helps build them even more. I think the ability to create such developed characters within the limitations of a short story is a sign of a great author.

The stories are well written. Sometimes it took me a minute to find the "connection" to the previous stories, but once I figured it out it all really started to make sense. Again I have to mention the humor that was so well-placed in the stories. I don't want to give anything away but my favorite bit of humor is the toe/thumb... (That's got you thinking doesn't it???) Like I said, it's kind of dark twisted humor.

While I didn't get lost in the story, and the characters were all fairly despicable I do have to say that I really enjoyed myself while reading this book. I really hope Cavins writes something else because I think I'm going to have to read this a few times. Not only to pick up some of the things I may have missed but also because I enjoyed it so much.

I love it! So funny!

Before I talk about the actual stories, I have to say that I think this book is a "men's romance". hehe This is what I mean... Usually in romances the woman is a regular gal, with flaws and everything, who could be just like me. She meets a sexy, hard-bodied, perfect man to have sex with and live happily ever after. So, alternately, a men's romance would be about an average dude who finds a young, tiny, tight-bodied woman with big, bouncy boobs. To look at and have sex with.

If I learned anything from this book, wait.. I don't read to learn, I read for entertainment. Well, I think I understand men a little better now. Oh, and now I know every slang word for penis. haha

This book is exactly the kind of movie that I love to watch (Crash, Valentine's Day) where the characters stories are separate from each other, but they cross paths.

It was so much fun to "follow the money" that I didn't want it to end. At least not until the money landed in my lap. I really liked Sammy and wished that there was more of him in the stories. My favorite story was Have Fun Tonight. It was so outrageous and I loved how the EMTs responded to Richard's condition. But, my very favorite character would have to be Wally. Every time he said anything, I laughed out loud!

Ross Cavins' debut novel Follow the Money is an unconventional tale. It's actually a collection of ten interconnected short stories where the main character (so to speak) is a bag of money - $3 million to be exact - that changes hands several times during the course of the story. It's heavy on vice, and virtue is nowhere to be found, but you can't help but like - or at least sympathize with - some of these characters. They're not unlike us all, and there's not much they won't do for money.

Follow the Money reads like an Elmore Leonard novel set in NASCAR country. I grew up in NC, and this novel put me right back there, and not always in a good way. Cavins has televangelists, con-artists (I know, I know, what's the difference?), gamblers, strippers, church ladies gone wild and plenty of Darwin Awards candidates all scheming to get their hands on a small fortune. It's a rude, crude, totally enjoyable look at what we'd do for money.

This offbeat, unusual tale of greed and stupidity is not your typical crime novel, but it's a fun story and one you won't soon forget. I enthusiastically recommend it to fans of Elmore Leonard, Cops and peopleofwalmart(dot)com.

When the primary character in a collection of stories is a collection of cash and bearer bonds, you had best be sure that there there is a sufficient number of interesting characters to make it worthwhile. Ross Cavins achieves that goal and then some.

Follow the Money basically does what the title suggests, from story to story we meet one deranged or loveable character after another; as the funds in question change hands either intentionally... or as is usually the case... not. It begins with a kidnapping that could have sprung from a collaboration of O. Henry and Carl Hiaasen (take a page or two from The Ransom of Red Chief and recast it with some Hiaasen's inept criminals and you have an idea as to what I mean). From there the money changes hands in one way or another, sometimes in ways that you'll never see coming.

Follow the Money is sexy, witty, profane, sly and very, very funny. At times I couldn't help but root for the bad guy or girl, but then something... call it karma... tosses a monkey wrench in things and the money falls into even stranger hands.

It's a very, very good read! I can't wait to see what Cavins comes up with next.

Ten inter-connected short stories have been collected between these covers. In addition to my over-all impression of this book, which you will find at the end of this review, I'll attempt to say something about each of the ten stories and rate them individually, as well as giving my rating for the entire book, but first, the stories.

1. "The Drop" - Inept kidnappers, funnier than a barrel of monkeys. Slow start, but builds suspense; is a fine, page-turning story. I absolutely loved the twisted ending. Rated 4 stars.

2. "The Investment" - Pickpocket meets big-time con artist, but can he trust his new partner? This story felt a bit disconnected near the middle, so rated 3 stars.

3. "Sammy's Night Out" - Armed robbery at a convenience store, of the inept gunman type. Predictable ending... Rated 3 stars.

4. "A Loaded Gun" - Grand theft auto plus an evening of crime gone wrong. Story number three with some added detail and from a different point of view. Packed with more laughs than "Sammy's Night Out" Rated 5 stars.

5. "Everybody's Got A Magic Number" Bookie takes the cash from cop involved in story #4. This story is longer, not as funny or as consistently interesting as the others. One doesn't even see the connection to the other stories until late. Rated 3 stars.

6. "Have Fun Tonight" Drunken driver collides with emergency vehicle. Just plain strange, warped humor. Rated 3 stars.

7. "Sweating Brother Bill" Two lusty old ladies - another strange story. Rated 3 stars.

8. "Toe Thumb" Abused wife runs away from deadbeat husband. Morbidly appealing somehow. Rated 4 stars.

9. "For The Road" Breaking and Entering, or How the Grinch stole Christmas. Rated 4 stars.

10. "Channel Ten" Car-jacking and Captain Crunch. Rated 5 stars.

The fun part of reading this story collection was seeing how the stories fit together into one larger story that has its ups and downs like a roller coaster. Trying to predict which characters from the earlier stories would appear again in which of the later stories was also a barrel of laughs, but figuring out who was going to have the money next - ah what suspense, and sometimes very surprising. The hot sex featured in some of these stories does little or nothing to move the plot along. Still, it was a fun read, and I would recommend Follow The Money to adults who do not find offense in the type of material contained here.

Follow The Money was provided to me free by the author in exchange for this review. This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com.

Not at all what I thought it would be. Don't really KNOW what I expected, but this book was so surprising...it blew me away! A collection of interconnected short stories where each "chapter" introduces new characters, but also weaves in some previous ones in such a devious way that you are basically left with your mouth hanging open. I absolutely LOVED this book! I won't give away too much of the plot...that would really ruin it for everyone (because you HAVE to read this book!)...but let's just say there is a bunch, and I mean a BUNCH of money involved. A cast of the most misfit characters I've ever met (and yes, you'll feel like you met them too when you're finished). Ross' way of writing is hilarious...you'll catch yourself either laughing or shaking your head because you just GET it! Highly recommended. Great job Ross (now, seriously...where's the money?).

FOLLOW THE MONEY by Ross Cavins is a curious book in my experience; it's the only collection of short stories in recent memory that I couldn't put down. Usually such anthologies are comprised of shorts that plot along the familiar Gaussian distribution curve, i.e. from a few worst to a few best with most falling in the vast middle. All ten in FOLLOW THE MONEY distribute into the +2 and +3 standard deviations to the right of the quality mean. The bottom line for readers is that this relatively short volume (at 233 pages) is a superbly entertaining diversion despite the fact that it's not a "thriller" in the conventional sense.

In a section entitled "About the Book", Cavins admits that his literary project began with Chapter Three, "Sammy's Night Out", Sammy being the prototypical Redneck. Then, lateral thinking took over and he decided to populate all stories in the compilation with Rednecks tied together by a single thread, $3 million of ill-gotten money, and all fueled by three dependable human characteristics regardless of social status - greed, lust and stupidity - catalyzed by events triggered by capricious circumstance.

I only took issue with the inference in Chapter Seven, "Sweating Brother Bill", that an acute case of priapism would result in anything more serious than localized gangrene and the need for amputation of the affected member.

That the stories' personae suggest stereotyping will perhaps positively annoy those anally impacted with political correctness. Oh, I do hope so. That possibility causes me to love and recommend this tome even more. However, as an aside, the author stated to me in an email that most of the book's characters are based on people he knows.

In that same email, Ross said he intends to expand Chapter One, "The Drop", into a full-length, stand-alone novel to come out next year. I certainly look forward to its publication and will go so far as to pay full, hardcover price to acquire a copy once released.

FOLLOW THE MONEY is unusual for its quirky cleverness. That alone makes it deserving of 5 stars in a landscape of otherwise so-so literary offerings. That it's also pure FUN is a bonus.

Follow The Money: A Collection of Interconnected Short Stories

Author: Ross Cavins

Publisher: RCG Publishing

ISBN: 978-1438253961

I knew I had discovered a Kindred Spirit in author Ross Cavins when he started this collection of short stories with an all time favorite quote of mine from Moliere: "Writing is like prostitution. First You do it for love, then for a few close friends and then for money." This book is among the funniest I have ever read.

What I especially love is that the humor sort of sneaks up on you, and leaves you laughing out loud and gasping for breath. Thankfully, I was not reading in a crowded room. Laughing and okay, actually snorting my way through these stories, I marvelled at the bigger than life characters, and for many of them, they rang true as the personalities of some family members and friends, all of whom shall remain nameless.

From a couple of inept "good ole boy" kidnappers to a slimey but smart " investment" con man to a fast talking (and even faster thinking) young redneck fellow in a rush to get on with what he hopes will be a romantic evening with his girl, these are really great characters, each memorable and a little bit nuts. There are ten stories in this book, and it left me wanting lots more. All ten are excellently done, with great characters and innovative plot lines. I'm glad I don't have to pick one favorite, cause that would be tough. Each are unique and charming. The characters grow on you, and all of them could be the subject of a book by themselves. I really look forward to reading more by this funny, funny author. Read it all at once, or savor each story slowly, either way, you'll be glad to have followed the money.......what a ride!

Ross Cavins is a self-admitted VIP wannabe and claims to be America's most unknown author. However, with published works in various magazines and as a free-lance web designer with a sharp a satirical wit, unknown author is an exaggeration. Unrecognized, unwilling to follow the mold, unrelenting in his pursuit of the humorous anecdote--perhaps these more aptly describe the author. From his home in North Carolina, he has ample material from which to draw inspiration in his so-called "redneck" corner of America.

Ross Cavins' book is aptly titled and subtitled as "Follow the Money, A collection of interconnected short stories." The theme is not so much the pursuit of money as it is the enterprising efforts to hang on to it. The prize in this story is slipperier than "snot on a doorknob," to use a colloquialism. As a result, the reader, watching the bouncing ball of cash pass from one hand to another, is consistently and thoroughly entertained.

With a sharp wit, and bold characters in rather capricious circumstances, this reader finds herself quickly turning pages to follow the twists in the tale. Personally, I laughed out loud upon reading the copyright page, a most unexpected place to find clever humor. And being from Texas myself, and knowing folks similar to the characters in "Follow the Money," I can guarantee they are authentic in description and action. From Sammy with the mullet haircut to the beer-guzzling Wally (whose lights are on, but nobody's home...) to the red-hot, over-the-hill sisters Ruth and Agnes--yepper, these folks exist...and they're usually good for a lot of fun!

Presenting a body of short stories in book format could have been chancy--the reader might lose interest or dislike the disconnection within the overall book. But Cavins has it all together. The short stories can, and have stood apart and succeeded on their own. But with recurring characters and consistent themes, the truly "interconnected" short stories function more like ten chapters in one, much bigger story--the "Follow the Money" story.

Bold--sexy--realistic yet imaginative--and, oh yes, quite hilarious, Cavins has delivered a very entertaining read.