Good People

( 10 )

Overview

Good people - caught in a bad place ...

When Tom and Anna Reed find $370,000 in their house one night it seems as if all their problems are solved. But what they can't quite wrap their minds around is that nothing in this life is free. Before the week is over they'll know exactly where that $370,000 came from-and come face to face with the brutal truth that in order to save your own life, sometimes you have to destroy your dreams...

...
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Good People

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More About This Book

Overview

Good people - caught in a bad place ...

When Tom and Anna Reed find $370,000 in their house one night it seems as if all their problems are solved. But what they can't quite wrap their minds around is that nothing in this life is free. Before the week is over they'll know exactly where that $370,000 came from-and come face to face with the brutal truth that in order to save your own life, sometimes you have to destroy your dreams...

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Crime writer Sakey's latest is a lackluster and stereotypical attempt that has a young married couple putting their lives on the line for the chance to have a baby. Of course, the decision doesn't come cheap, and soon enough they come across a couple of meanies who will do anything to get revenge. Joyce Bean and Dan John Miller's dual narration is more inspired than the writing, yet the recording quality seems downright amateurish. Miller's muffled reading sounds as if he's speaking through a paper-thin wall. However, he is a terrific character actor and brings his talents to every male character that pops up along the way. Bean is a seasoned professional, packing a lot of punch in her simple and straightforward delivery. A Dutton hardcover (Reviews, June 16). (Sept.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
New Orleans Times-Picayune
As you might expect, "The Little Book" is anything but little. This is a wide-ranging novel of grand ideas, of the promise of the new century, now so far behind us. It is a story of fathers and sons, to be sure, of the bygone days when an American aristocracy held the reins of power. And it is a tale of books within books, and their influence upon history. But Edwards has a wonderfully subversive way with all this; along with the great men of the era, he creates astonishing female characters. The Burden women, who marry into the family after living rich, full lives of their own, have their tales to tell, too. All this swirls around in a graceful waltz of a book, spinning at times at dizzying speed, but leaving behind a haunting, unforgettable melody.
Chicago Tribune
Take a pinch of Mitch Albom's "For One More Day" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" (for an impossible chance to make amends or peace), draw a little from Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" (for the potential of a twist on the physical universe as we know it), on the upscale side borrow a bit from Michael Cunningham's "The Hours" (for clever paralleling of extremely different contexts), hark back to E.L. Doctorow's "Ragtime" (for commingling historical and fictional characters) and throw in a heady dollop of romantic mooning a la Robert James Waller's "The Bridges of Madison County," and you will have an inkling of the ingredients pulped together in "The Little Book."
New York Daily News Sunday
The Little Book" is quite the twisty not-so-little novel. Everything is connected, we are told in "The Little Book," and indeed it is in this tale. Caught up in an eternal loop, as well, though the book does come to a tender close, but only to start up again in the mind's eye. It's hard not to be thoroughly taken with such an approach to both the real and imagined past.
Library Journal

Sakey (www.marcussakey.com), author of the 2007 New York TimesEditor's Pick The Blade Itself, whose film rights have been purchased by Ben Affleck for Miramax, here shows how an unthinking action can have far-reaching consequences. Anna and Tom Reed can't believe their luck when they find big money in their dead tenant's apartment. A reality check comes in the form of felons, guns, death, and the loss of everything they ever thought was important to them. Audie® Award winner Joyce Bean and actor/musician Dan John Miller, both excellent readers, narrate the female and male characters, respectively, complementing the alternating viewpoint construction of the story. Of interest to public libraries collecting crime fiction. [Audio clip available through library.brillianceaudio.com; the Dutton hc was "highly recommended for all popular fiction collections," LJ7/08.-Ed.]
—Joanna M. Burkhardt

Kirkus Reviews
A financially strapped yuppie couple in Chicago stumbles on a big pile of cash and makes as many wrong decisions as possible while being chased by murderous thugs. Tom and Anna Reed are the unsatisfied landlords living beyond their means in the latest from Sakey (At The City's Edge, 2008, etc.). Exhausted, embittered and nearly broke from their hideously expensive efforts to conceive a child, the Reeds are desperate for a break. Responding to a smoke alarm shrieking in the downstairs tenant's apartment of their overpriced two-flat, they find their creepy renter dead and nearly $400,000 in cash in his flour bin. The stash once belonged to an unnamed movie star with a world-famous smile who, while in the city to make a film, sought to buy a load of the latest and liveliest drugs, only to have both money and pharmaceuticals snatched from under his famous nose in the middle of the transaction by a gang of mostly hardened criminals, including the late tenant. The Reeds, acting on the same cinematic imperative that sends teenaged babysitters to check on that noise in the basement, decide to keep the money to rebuild their credit and their child-deprived lives. Anna takes a day off from work to pay the credit-card bills, and the newly rich couple enjoy a night out and some hot sex. Of course the dead guy's chums come around looking for their hard-earned money; the ripped-off drug dealer wants his product back; and a hard-luck police detective starts finding holes in the Reeds' story. Recognizing immediately that they are up against ruthless criminals and determined policemen, do the Reeds cut their losses, fess up and go back to work, sadder but safer? Of course not. They've had a taste of lifewithout debt, and it's enough to encourage these "good people" to try to outfox the utterly ruthless villains who systematically destroy everything they own and promise to make mincemeat of the hapless ninnies. Readers may root for the bad guys.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780451412744
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 8/4/2009
  • Format: Mass Market Paperback
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 336
  • Sales rank: 890,252
  • Product dimensions: 4.10 (w) x 6.70 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Marcus Sakey is the acclaimed author of The Blade Itself and At the City's Edge.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 10 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(2)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 10 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 7, 2008

    A reviewer

    Marcus Sakey writes books that make you want to call in sick so you can brew strong coffee cozy up on your favorite chair and read all day. 'Good People' is as good as it gets! He's created real characters. You can feel their pain and (as usual) it has page-turning suspense. We can only hope that Marcus lives to be 100-years-old and writes 1,000 more books. Marcus, thank you for making reading cool again!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 13, 2008

    Good People=Good Book!

    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.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 27, 2011

    recommended

    Have recently been reading marcus Sakey and have been impressed. If you like Lehane, Connelly & Pelicanos you will like sakey.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 16, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Chicago Way (Michael Kelly Series #1)
    Blade Itself

    Another Good Book by Sakey

    This is the second book of Sakey's that I have recently read. It has a great story, but I was left wanting a bit more out of the ending. Although, I absolutely loved the last page of the book...it's perfect and very original. I thought "The Blade Itself" was excellent, but I highly recommend reading this one too! Sakey does such a great job at putting the reader into the story; where the reader gets a chance to make decisions on tough situations. Both books are like that. I've became a fan of his--I'm starting to read his second book and his 4th book comes out in August...

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 17, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Suspenseful page-turner

    Middle-class greed combined with hardened criminals with some philosophical musings thrown in is how I would describe this third entry by Marcus Sankey. I work in a book store and I am puzzled about the lack of fame and popularity for this author. If he had a good agent, his books would be best-sellers.

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  • Posted June 30, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Fine If You Don't Mind the Violence

    Good People starts well, with a strong narrative. Unfortunately it degenerates into graphic scenes of sickening cruelty - beginning with an innocent young man's hand being methodically crushed by a thug, lovingly detailed. I'm not a reader who defines this as "entertainment".
    Those who do will find this unpleasant story of greed, malevolence, and nauseating gore enjoyable. I did not. The only reason for two stars instead of one is a good plot premise and decent writing, in spite of the use to which the author puts it.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 24, 2008

    What a riveting read!

    Wow . . .this author has nailed the crime fiction novel genre. This being only his third offering and I would rank him among the best writers I know of, and I read a lot of books. I would never have guessed the ending in a million years! I was awake for a long time, last night, after finishing this book. I am eagerly awaiting Marcus Sakey's next book.

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  • Posted December 9, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    A reviewer

    Struggling middle class Tom and Anna Reed are good solid citizens who love one another. Their dream is to have a child, but infertility makes it impossible without expensive help. They do not have the money for some of the alternatives and those they have tried like in-vitro have proven futile.----------------------- Helping them survive financially as they pinch pennies for their next fertility try is a reclusive tenant who pays monthly rent to them. When their hermit dies, the Reeds worry about how they will survive without his income coming in monthly. They enter their late lodger¿s room to clean it out only to find four-hundred thousand dollars. Unable to resist what both feel is an easy windfall that no one will know about except themselves, this will allow them to attempt again to fulfill their dream of a child. However, neither understands that their deceased boarder left behind some irate Windy City associates who believe the ill-gotten loot belongs to them these dangerous thugs do not mind the use of force including breaking limbs or even murder and their sights are set on the Reeds.--------------- This exciting thriller uses a typical American suburban family trying to fulfill their dream that places them in extreme danger from deadly mobsters who believe their ill-gotten loot belongs to them as the late tenant double-crossed them. Where else would a mobster hide than in the burbs making for quite a contrast between middle class American and the mob will sort of remind readers of the haunting contrasting final scene of the Cagney film Public Enemy. Readers will appreciate this strong thriller as the American dream turns nightmarish when the Reeds become avaricious in achieving their personal quest as Marcus Sakey asks his audience would you ethically turn in $400,000 that you believe no one knows you found.--------------- Harriet Klausner

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 17, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

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