Found Money [Paperback]

James Grippando (Author)

Book Description

A young woman finds $200,000 in cash in a cardboard box delivered to her door. A man inherits a fortune from a father who died "penniless." Amy Parkens and Ryan Duffy have never met, but they are about to, as each discovers that found money can be a godsend--or a nightmare.

Amy Parkens is a struggling single mother forced to abandon a career in astronomy for a practical computer job. She feels condemned to long hours, low pay, and no time to spend with her daughter. Then an unmarked package arrives. There's no card, no note, no return address. Someone has simply sent her a small fortune. Amy has no idea who--or why. She only knows her dead-end life has changed forever.

Though she longs to keep the cash, Amy fears a mistake, a setup, or even a possible connection to her mother's mysterious suicide twenty years earlier. She has to find the source. But when she tries to look her gift horse in the mouth, someone snatches the money away--quickly, violently.

Ryan Duffy is a decent, responsible man, a small-town physician from the plains of southeastern Colorado. Like Amy, Ryan has recently found unexpected wealth. His father's estate is worth more than Ryan could ever have imagined--millions more. Truth is, Dad was a hardworking electrician for forty-years. But in his attic, he hid a fortune. The Duffy family has been guarding this secret. Was it extortion, burglary, or some other shocking crime? And now that Ryan has the money, what should he do?

Painful as it is, Ryan is drawn to his father's dark past. Amy, on the same desperate quest for answers, soon crosses Ryan's path. Their search takes them through a labyrinth of deception and blackmail, leading to a man of unfathomable power.

Yet the past is not what it appears. Heinous crimes touched their families years ago. Amy and Ryan must solve a treacherous puzzle to learn why the true victims never came forward, why the real wrongdoers went unpunished, and why certain people would kill to keep their secrets.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For anyone who's ever dreamed of finding a cash windfall, Grippando's (The Abduction) new crime novel offers a cautionary tale of greed, family secrets and the dangers of getting what you wish for. Just before Frank Duffy dies, he tells his physician son, Ryan, that there is $2 million hidden in the attic, and that Frank got the money through blackmail?albeit off someone who "deserved it." The level-headed Ryan considers both claims unbelievable?until he finds the money. What secrets had his mild-mannered, hard-working father been hiding? Meanwhile, Amy Parkins, while struggling to support her daughter and her grandmother and to put herself through law school, receives $200,000 from an anonymous benefactor, apparently Frank Duffy, whom she'd never met. Why? Could the gift have anything to do with her mother's mysterious suicide 20 years earlier? Troubled by the criminal implications of his father's legacy, Ryan decides he can't touch the cash until he knows where it came from. His questions kick off a wild ride involving lawyers and guns, Panamanian banks, seductive strangers and too much FBI interest for comfort. Amy, too, tries to trace the money, putting her on a collision course with Ryan and his greed-maddened family. As Ryan and Amy search for the money's source and meaning, they uncover a conspiracy involving high-ranking government officials, multi-billion-dollar corporations and a hidden crime committed on a hot summer night years ago. The final revelation is a real kicker, but it would carry even more force if overly tricky plot contrivances hadn't diluted the suspense of what came before.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An impoverished single mother is stupefied to find $200,000 in a package anonymously mailed to her, until her house is broken into shortly thereafter. A dying electrician tells his son about $2 million buried under the floorboards of the attic. The son, incredulous, locates another $3 million in a Panamanian bank, but when he goes to investigate, his papers are stolen. Both of the newly wealthy people have reservations about keeping money acquired so suspiciously and are soon in touch. Grippando (The Informant) nicely plots a baffling yet believable story of extortion and deception from an earlier generation. Sad to say, the tale eventually degenerates into a gun battle at a remote dam after midnight, with a hired killer and the appointee to head the Federal Reserve Board. Still, the setup is well done, and if the story slips into thriller clich?s, well, it's that kind of book. This is one of the few abridgments that doesn't leave the listener wondering whether a tape was left out of the package; Mark Blum reads with a real sense of urgency. Overall, you could do much worse.AJohn Hiett, Iowa City P.L.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
• ISBN-10: 0732265002
• ISBN-13: 978-0732265007
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

More About the Author

After twelve years as a trial lawyer with Miami's most prestigious law firm, James Grippando is now a national best-selling author of thirteen suspenseful thrillers in as many years, including Lying with Strangers, When Darkness Falls, Got the Look, Hear No Evil, Last to Die, Beyond Suspicion, A King's Ransom, Under Cover of Darkness, Found Money, The Abduction, The Informant and The Pardon. His first novel for young adults, Leapholes, was published in 2006, as well as his first short-story, Operation Northwoods, which appeared in the critically acclaimed Thriller anthology. His novels are enjoyed worldwide in twenty-four languages.

James's first job out of law school plunged him headlong into death penalty cases. That experience was an inspiration for his 1994 debut novel, The Pardon, a legal thriller that critics heralded as a "bona fide blockbuster." Beyond Suspicion (2002) was the long-awaited sequel to that first novel, and it launched an exciting new series that features Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck and that critics have heralded as "John Grisham meets Robert Ludlum."

As a lawyer, James was an avid writer. His numerous scholarly articles appeared in some of nation's top law reviews, and they are frequently cited with approval by the courts. His trial practice ranged from complex corporate litigation to class actions on behalf of chicken farmers. As a frequent volunteer in Florida's guardian ad litem program, he helped provide legal representation to neglected children in family court proceedings. He was a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Nova Southeast University. He was named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of Florida's emerging leaders, and in 2006 he received the Distinguished Author Award from Scranton University. His alma mater is the University of Florida, where he graduated second in his undergraduate class and earned his law degree with honors. He now serves Of Counsel to David Boies' law firm, Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP.

James lives and writes in Coral Gables, Florida, and he is married to Tiffany, who has been his unofficial editor since book one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FAST-PACED, INTELLIGENT THRILLER, May 7, 2000

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: Found Money (Mass Market Paperback)

Amy Parkens is a single mom struggling to raise her young daughter. One day a mysterious package containing $200,000.00 appears on her doorstep.

Ryan Duffy is a divorced doctor, his dying father has revealed to him there is 2 million dollars hidden in their attic.

Amy begins searching to find out who sent the money and why.

Ryan begins to search his father's past to find out who his father was blackmailing and why.

The search brings Amy and Ryan together...What is the connection between the two, and is there a connection to Amy's mother's suicide many years earlier?

You will turn the pages FAST to uncover the answers to these questions

James Grippando is an author whose talent for coming up with clever, page-turning plots is endless.

"Found Money" moves at the speed of a runaway train, and the climax is a shocker.

This book is a MUST read!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Grippando excels with "Found Money", January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Found Money (Hardcover)

What would you do if someone delivered a package to your door containing $200,000? Would you stash it away or would you launch a search to find out where the money originated? This is the plot in James Grippando's new novel "Found Money" (HarperCollins $25). When I first began to read "Found Money" I found the plot a bit irritating. After all, wouldn't you want to secure the cash before jeopardizing it by asking questions? But Grippando is such a talented writer I had to see where he was going with the story. I'm glad I did because he weaves a fully believable tale that will stay with you long after you finish the book. "Found Money" begins when Amy Parkins finds $200,000 in cash in a cardboard box delivered to her door. In the meantine, Ryan Duffy inherits a fortune from his penniless father. Amy and Ryan, who have never met, soon cross paths to discover that found money can be a treasure or an atrocity. Ryan and Amy discover horrifying crimes that touched their families years ago and must solve a perilous puzzle to learn the truth. Just when you think you have read Grippando's best work, he tops it with another spellbinding novel that will keep you reading well into the night to reach the dramatic conclusion.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real-life dilemma makes this a great thriller, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Found Money (Hardcover)

The best thrillers are those that put ordinary people in extraordinary situations. That is exactly what happens in this book and what makes it such a great thriller. Everyone has at one time or another wondered what he or she would do upon coming into a great deal of money. But what would you do if you suspected the money was ill-gotten? And what if you suspected that the wrongdoer was a family member? Those are the questions facing the characters in this book, and what they do and go through kept me flipping the pages until I finished the book. Grippando gets better with every book.