Twenty Grand: A Love Story Book Review

Synopsis:
A riveting modern noir telling of desire and betrayal, justice and love 

The beautiful wife of a powerful businessman finds that her husband has given their fortune away to a young woman. And she’ll do anything to get it back. 

Gloria Orion’s life is complete – a lovely home, a wealthy spouse, vacations abroad. It’s a pretty picture. 

But one afternoon, Gloria discovers this nice life is an illusion. She finds that her husband Karl has given away their fortune to a young woman named Mira. When she confronts him, he puts up a wall: It’s all true, honey. And none of your damn business. Then Karl reveals he is dying of cancer, and has no insurance. Gloria’s devastated, stunned – and bankrupt. But her tears dry quickly. This girl Mira has the money, she thinks. My money! And Gloria Orion will do anything to get it back. 

She calls her brother, a prominent lawyer, who’s fighting to save the building he owns from foreclosure. He needs money too, fast. Then she finds a private investigator, who can’t earn a living legitimately because his license is revoked. But that suits Gloria fine, so she hires him. Angry and desperate, they’re all determined to recover the money. 

Unfortunately, Mira won’t be much help. Her body turns up in a vacant lot on the wrong side of town, and the cops suspect Gloria and her brother of murder. The hunters become the hunted. As the police close in, Gloria embarks on a frantic search, only to find disaster. In a shocking ending, her lost fortune becomes part of a strange and fascinating justice. 

Purchase: Amazon

My Review:

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Every month Karl Orion writes a check for twenty thousand dollars to a mysterious woman. His wife Gloria thought they were doing okay running their pallet factory, until she went through the books and the numbers didn't add up.  The business is going bankrupt and she now realizes her husband has been giving money away, who is this Mira Ogilvy? Why is Karl giving her their money? She hires PI Baker Davis to find her, only what he finds is a dead body.  Who killed Mira? What was the motive?


This story teaches about family, struggles, and how to look beyond what is directly in front of us and see the big picture. You could feel the pain that the Lewis family felt daily from their loss.  Personally, I felt angry at Gloria and Karl's greed, they came across as cold and heartless. This was a great story of the human heart and one person's determination to right a wrong. My only issue with the book is that I don't have closure, we never do find out who killed Mira.