Customer Reviews

Too Rich to Live

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4 star:		(1)
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This mystery novel successfully weaves its suspenseful tale, but the author also creates characters and settings that lend an element of satire and make this a fun read. The insights into the worlds of finance and journalism add to the story without overwhelming the reader, and the New York City lives of the characters, at both the upper crust and workingman's level, are fascinating.

I highly recommend "Too Rich to Live," which skewers both big business and journalism to great effect. The book is a suspenseful page-turner, but also pretty damn funny.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly! Great characters, zippy plot, scary action, and tons of great one-liners. Recommended for rich and poor alike.

I loved this thriller. I read it on the way home from a trip to Ney York City and it was like taking a delicious slice of New York along for the ride! I highly recommend it!

California Mystery Lover

Lawrence Light, who in real life is a financial genius, has created non top suspense and a cast of characters which hook the reader from the very first page. In TOO RICH TO LIVE, the life style and the moral standards of the members of the Billionare Boys Club are exploited with realism and wit. Karen, a fledgling investigative reporter is one of the most charming and plucky heroines I've come across in a long time -- her family reminds me of Janet Evanowich's Stephanie Plum's. Bottom line: Lawrence Light has accomplished what every thriller reader wants: a can't-put-it-down pace; memorable characters; a twisty plot; and what only experts in one's field can pull off, in this case a behind the scenes look at the world of financial intriegue and enormous wealth.

Edward Danton had been good with figures, an up and comer as he started his Wall Street career with the firm Dewey Cheatham.. He got involved with four whiz kids there who took advantage by setting him up for insider trading and attempted murder. One of them then stole the love of his life. He took the fall going to prison where he befriended a rich con man who left him his fortune. The Four whiz kids, two of whom it turns out were total frauds, set up a successful leveraged buyout firm where they made much money that they put in an offshore bank. They treated the former ceo's and employees of the companies they bought ruthlessly. Karen Glick was a writer for a business magazine. She had aspirations to be a top notch investigative reporter. Her parents were Jewish leftist political radicals. She was in the process of going thru a divorce from her WASPY financial business husband. She was assigned to write a story about the Billionaire Boys Club. Usually she had written powder puff type stories. She was being fed information on how they had stashed money in Cayman and avoided tax liabilities. When Dalton got out of prison he vowed to pay back the four who had betrayed him. He had the finances to fund the operation. He used a tough criminal he had met in prison Louis to put together a group to carry the plot out. Louis recruited a disaffected group of radical youth to implement the plan. Quite a lot of fairly fast moving violent action. It seemed as though every time Karen was about to meet her demise something happened to save her. A good fun read. And yes, she made it as a top notch investigative reporter.

In New York though in her thirties reporter Karen Glick is reengineering her life. First she has divorced her PowerPoint efficient investment banker Tim Bratton. Second she wants out of the fluff executive profiles she writes for Profit magazine as her heart is in investigating. She is looking into the buyout of Redmon, Dangler, Strongville & Morgan by the Billionaire Boys Club who she has evidence that proves they are a quartet of tax cheaters. Highly regarded investigative journalist Frank Vere tells her if they can verify the proof with supporting documentation they will bring down a powerful group that includes one member currently running for the US Senate.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art fundraiser, senatorial candidate Caddy Redmon gives a shocking speech before collapsing and dies. The group Vampyr has accused Redmon of fraud and cheating, but Karen doubts this organization would seek blood to cleanse the problem. Karen begins to investigate, but soon realizes that someone with a personal vendetta has targeted the Billionaire Boys Club as another member is murdered, but finding the guilty party will prove difficult as this group has hurt many people over their two decades of cheating.

Ironically while Karen seeks to uncover the identity of a killer, readers know who he is from page one and somewhat his motive although that is not fully understandable until the final climax. The story line is exciting as the audience follows Karen investigating the homicide while also seeking the collaborating evidence that proves the Billionaire Boys Club are tax cheaters. Though the reasoning behind the killings seems stretched, fans will appreciate this intense thriller starring a delightful protagonist who hopefully covers future financial scandalous stories.

Harriet Klausner