Friday, August 5, 2011

Zillionaire-Gary Alexander

Zillionaire
Gary Alexander
Five Star, Sep 7 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9781432825348

Nonagenarian Saburo “Mongoose” Taihotsu was the last warrior fighting WW II after three Japanese sakes caused him to miss the target Pearl Harbor and crash on Kauai. He did not just elude capture by the Americans; the recluse built an incredibly successful business selling consumer goods to the greedy. Allegedly the Mongoose took his fortune with him though in fact he took shame to the grave as well as leaving a strange clue.

In Seattle Rob Weather the Midwest TV reporter shows his only known maybe relation the Last Chance Insurance Agency owner Carla Chance and her boyfriend standup comic Buster Hightower a 26-diit calligraphic numeral puzzle left inside an unmarked envelop. Carla thinks her never married forty-eight year old friend Sarah Hilyer the mathematician would be a perfect match for her only known maybe relation. The quartet work the numerical clue while also trying to locate Buster’s stolen 1959 Coupe. Others including Vegas mobsters seek the Mongoose’s loot. Soon all converge at the Mayan ruins of Tikal, Guatemala.

From Japan to Hawaii to Seattle to Peoria to Tikal, Zillionaire is an amusing over the top insane thriller. The amusing story line is fun to follow and not just because of Buster’s lawyer jokes (needs to turn to financial humor). Readers will enjoy this entertaining zany amateur sleuth which also satires various cultures for their illogical superiority.

Harriet Klausner

No comments: