WEEKS OF JULY 24 - AUGUST 6
Ravens
by George Dawes Green
Grand Central Publishing
Fiction
July 2009
What does it feel like to hold a winning lottery ticket worth $318,000,000?
Patsy Boatwright is a gin and tonic, scotch-drinking, Bible-quoting mother of two who fades in and out of reality. And finally, one ticket in Patsy’s large collection matches the jackpot numbers announced on Wednesday night. She’s super rich! Her worries are over. But can she cope with instant wealth, fame and more attention than one person could ever imagine? She’s about to find out.
Patsy’s hopes are dashed when she finds out that for the entire Boatwright family to survive, they must split the winnings with two complete strangers … or die. Mitch, Patsy, Tara, and Jase are up against the egotistical whims of two amateur thugs. Delusional Shaw McBride and his spineless friend Romeo Zderko have their eyes on the prize.
Her fury running away with her. She polished off the gin in a single swallow, and got up to fix herself another … May they burn in hell! And they would, she thought. Because if they ever tried to leave Brunswick, to enjoy their loot, she’d bring the FBI down on them like a hive of hornets. The FBI would put so many holes in them, their own mothers wouldn’t want what was left.
Author George Dawes Green spins a gritty tale of greed in “Ravens.” Shaw and Romeo, both dejected employees of Dayton Techworld in Ohio, travel Interstate 95 without a plan, but swoop down into the small, Bible Belt town of Brunswick, Georgia. And like a pair of desperate ravens, these simple-minded misfits are full of mischief, darkness, depression and death. One with a huge appetite for money and death. Both with a sinister, greedy plan to claim half of the Boatwright’s fortune.
A well-blended recipe of originality, danger and humor highlight a cast of characters searching for riches and love. And no one has waited longer for love than Burris “Deppity Dawg,” a down-in-the-dumps cop with a withering career and a 40-year crush on Nell Boatwright, who refuses to give him the time of day. But that doesn’t stop him from trying again and again to get close to her.
And in the meantime, Romeo’s blind dedication and love for his childhood friend, Shaw, keeps him driving aimlessly in his old Tercel. He watches the Boatwright family’s every move and awaits Shaw’s command to kill. Does Romeo have it in him to harm such nice people? Does he share Shaw’s dream to own a piece of the world?
Green’s vivid imagination comes to life with characters so believable and a plot so unpredictable, this third novel reads more like “True TV.” He skillfully manipulates every chapter with clues to bring an exciting and original novel to a roaring climax.
It takes love, persistence, and a map to get to the bottom of this charade. And you will never guess who connects the dots.
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