The Millionaires
 Brad Meltzer
 (Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
 2002 Warner Books
  ISBN: 0446527297

A suspenseful story of two brothers committing what they thought was a perfect crime, except it cost them everything they held dear.

Sr. Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

Brad Meltzer's The Millionaires is a suspense work that stands in a different footing from the author's other works. Firstly it is not a legal fiction work, like The Tenth Justice or The First Counsel. Secondly, it is not a “pucca” thriller, like Dead Even, & thirdly there is no “hero” in the work.

What The Millionaires is, is a Gritty Caper; a real adventure, with convincing fallible characters -- the likes of which are few & far between in popular fiction today.

Oliver & Charlie Caruso are brothers who work in the same hi-fi bank dealing only with the mega-rich. Both dream of success, in their own way, but ultimately find that what they are destined for is a lifetime behind the desk, as small flies.

One routine day Oliver comes across an abandoned 3 Million dollar account. No one has any claim over it, no one knows it exists, and no one will ever miss it.

It sounds like the perfect crime & the brothers together with the help of the Bank's Security head, steal the money, & dream of a world of riches, luxury & success. However, the next day they discover that they have more money in their account than what they stole. It has ballooned into a whooping 313 Million dollars. It slowly dawns on the brothers that they have been patsies to someone else's bigger scheme.

Suddenly the Secret Service is breathing down their necks, so is a Private Investigator. They decide to escape, but their plan goes bang & the investigator is killed. With the Secret Service close on their heels, it is a race against time for the brothers to prove their innocence in the bigger scheme of things.

The Millionaires is an exciting tale of double cross & treachery. As I said earlier, it is not exactly a thriller -- it is a caper, an adventure of the first order. Good caper mysteries have been rare in the past half-a-dozen years, & this one is a welcome relief. It is in similar vein to the popular 'Perfect Crime' capers like, Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery.

The taut but simple style of narration kept me glued from the first page itself.

Curl up with The Millionaires in the evening. Guaranteed, the suspense will keep you warm on a cold night.

Also reviewed by this reviewer The First Counsel.
(03/31/02)

Narayan
2002©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org