Davis Bunn • Bethany Books
By By Dane Roberts Wans On Bookreview
A very easy group of Americans to scam are the elderly. A get rich quick program always sounds good. After all, you want to be able to provide for yourself now and be able to leave something for the children.
As our story opens a scam has been perpetrated on a community of senior citizens. They were promised an investment opportunity that would give them a great rate of return. Only there was no such investment opportunity. It seems their previous accountant was diverting money from their retirement fund into a real estate venture. It is tax time and the accountant has disappeared with the money.
Enter our hero, Wayne, who is not afraid to walk the line between lawful and expedient. He is a CPA. He has been hired to set the books right. “When I file this year’s accounts, your community will officially be in receivership. I’ve applied for an extension, so you have another three and a half weeks to come up with another source of funds,” he reports to the group after examining the books.
His first order of business is to get back the money taken from the elderly. By breaking and entering the house of the former accountant he is able to get their money back. At the same time he finds himself involved in something bigger than a small scam. It seems the former account ends up dead soon after Wayne acquires the cash.
But the adventure doesn’t end there. Soon Wayne is contacted by a female lawyer to protect the life of her wealthy employer who is being visited by what he calls an angel.
This is the main theme: trust. Who can you trust? The elderly trusted the previous accountant who saw a good deal in this investment plan. Wayne must trust others. Up to this point he trusts only himself. He is living with a big secret. Who can he share it with?
There is a love interest. Wayne must work close to a female lawyer who has a secret she can’t trust others with. The main character, Wayne Grusha, must reclaim his life. He must prove himself. He has a background. “Grusha was full-on Special Ops. Afghanistan, medals, then works.” Wayne has anger problems. “Impulse control, Sergeant Grusha. It will kill you one of these days.” He is the one that the community of senior citizens calls in to handle a problem they are having.
This book is put out by Bethany House. You can trust anything that comes from Bethany House for a good story. Author Davis Bunn is one of this publisher’s prolific craftsmen.
This summer has brought us exciting books to add to our library. It was Henry Ward Beecher who said, “A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” Keep those letters coming to Let me know what you are reading.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 6, 2008. Read the original PDF.