11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good People=Good Book!, August 14, 2008
This review is from: Good People (Hardcover)
The basic premise of Good People centers on the question 'How far would you go to keep hidden the fact that you found $370,000?' When Tom and Anna Reed find $370,000 they develop a simple plan regarding their find. Their plan is to keep the money hidden and wait to see if anyone comes to claim it. If not, they plan to keep the money and use it in ways that will change their lives. What the Reeds don't realize is that their simple plan has led them to cross some very dangerous men who won't stop until they get revenge no matter where they find it. Let me be very clear about the fact that Sakey's third book, Good People, is a very fast-paced, exciting, entertaining read. What the premise of the book is not, however, is original. That is, it is very similar to the book written several years ago by Scott Smith called A Simple Plan. As I said, Good People is a book that is suspenseful and worth reading, especially by those who have never read (or seen the movie) A Simple Plan. In comparison, however, I think readers (and/or viewers) of A Simple Plan will find, as I did, that Good People pales somewhat in comparison.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ridiculous concept that I couldn't get past, September 4, 2009
Good People is not a genre I read often but I tend to mix a thriller in from time to time and when I do I want a real page-turner: a Laura Lippman or a Harlan Coben. A story that keeps me thinking, guessing, and most importantly keeps me up all night reading. Good People, unfortunately, is not that book. Here's the premise: Chicago couple Tom and Anna Reed have been trying to have a child for an extremely long time and have hit the expensive stage of the fertility process: IUI [intrauterine insemination] and IVF [in vitro fertilization]. Anna and Tom find nearly $400K in hidden money in their tenant's basement unit. Not surprisingly, this hidden stash leads to more trouble than the couple ever expects when slowly the money's links to drug-deals, thieves, and other unsavory characters are exposed. How much is the money worth to them? While Sakey has a decent concept he fails to develop the characters of Anna and Tom enough that I cared why they wanted/needed the money to face so much danger and to deceive each other and those around them. Thousands of couples cannot have their own children. I did not feel so sorry for them that I was thrilled with their decision to keep this money. Adopt like other people and stop being so selfish. I did not buy into the entire morality tale that Sakey tried to build around this supposedly "good" couple finding a stash of tainted money and going to extreme lengths to keep it. These "good" people turned out to be just as calculated as the "bad" guys. Good People starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. This is not what I want in a thriller.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What Happens to Good People...In Sticky Situations, August 23, 2011
Since Marcus Sakey is a local thriller author (Chicago, IL), I decided to read Good People. Available at my public library, I was excited to listen to the audio version of this fast-paced thriller. Though my iPod mixed up some of the tracks in this book, I listened to the majority of the story in chronological order.
The premise of the book is interesting: What happens to everyday Good People when they fall into sticky situations?
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Here's the official synopsis:
"A family, and the security to enjoy it: that's all Tom and Anna Reed ever wanted. But years of infertility treatments, including four failed attempts at in-vitro fertilization, have left them with neither. The emotional and financial costs are straining their marriage and endangering their dreams. So when their downstairs tenant, a recluse whose promptly delivered cashier's checks were barely keeping them afloat, dies in his sleep, the $400,000 they find stashed in his kitchen seems like fate. More than fate: a chance for everything they've dreamed of for so long. A fairy-tale ending.
But Tom and Anna soon realize that fairy tales never come cheap. Because their tenant wasn't a hermit who squirreled away his pennies. He was a criminal who double-crossed some of the most dangerous men in Chicago. Men who won't stop until they get revenge, no matter where they find it."
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Interesting, right? What would I do if I found $400,000 in my imaginary tenant's kitchen? Those were the thoughts constantly running through my head.
What would YOU do in that situation?
Many contemporary thrillers seem to lack depth. Not Good People. Sakey wove his theme through the narrative in a not-so-subtle manner, but it worked. After each chapter, I imagined myself as one of the characters in yet another conundrum from my bad choices. Now what would I do?
Point of view in the novel is another noticeable technique. As writers, we are cautioned against head-hopping between the characters in a given scene. Sakey knows that "rule," but he broke it marvelously. Sometimes, I was jolted out of the story to switch perspectives from Tom to Anna. I still could follow the story.
Thrillers should have that page-turning quality to them. That's one of the telling characteristics. Sakey delivered. I could hardly stop listening to this book long enough to catch up on my favorite pod casts. I was obsessed with the story till the last page.
Give it a read (or a listen). Let me know what you
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