Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man who found $1 Million that fell off a Truck

Rating:
Summary: Not a lot of substance to this book
Review: I bought this book after reading a complimentary review online. Unfortunately, this book proved to be a very bland, unentertaining read about an unintelligent, vanilla main character who doesn't even give himself a chance to keep the money that he found.

Nothing spectacular really happens in the book; in fact, this probably would have been a better feature article for a second-tier major newspaper.

I found the characters very difficult to follow, much less get interested in. I do not recommend this book at all.

Rating:
Summary: Breezy book with an edge
Review: I received this as a Christmas present, and what a neat present it was!
I started reading this obviously fictional book about this unemployed meth addict Philadelphian dockworker named Joey who finds $1.2 million in unmarked unsequential $100 bills laying on the street -- a $1.2 million which literally fell off the back of the truck. He immediately enters into all these improbable and zany adventures, capped by an arrest at the airport as he's getting ready to fly to Acapulco! During his trial, his attorney opts for a temporary insanity defense, which the jury buys because the guy's buddies testify he "went bananas" for a week when he found the money.
Yet this comedy has an edge to it -- the tragedy of "men who were raised to go to work out on the docks like their fathers and uncles and older brothers, only there's no work for them on the docks anymore, and there's nothing else they know how to do.... It's a story about addiction, about the belief that there is a shortcut to true happiness."
When I got to the Epilogue, I was quite surprised to find that this obviously fictional story was true! The author tells what happened after the trial, and how Joey's story was literally Disneyfied -- and how his good fortune turned out to be his tragic ruin.
The typeface used is a bit distracting since there is no "1" -- and unlike ancient typewriters, instead of the small "L," the capital "I" is used: thus $100 is $I00 and 314 Dunfor Street is 3I4 Dunfor Street.
This is a great book because it encompasses universal themes -- Joey is a Greek tragic figure whose internal flaws, despite his good fortune, emerge to undo him. Many of us, likewise, have envisioned what we would do if sudden riches came upon us.

Rating:
Summary: A BRISK, NEAT LITTLE STORY
Review: This a true story about one of those weird occurences in life that everyone hopes for in the back of their minds: A million dollars falls out of an armored car and some lucky stiff find it, grabs it, and takes it home. Unmarked bills! Untraceable bills! You could hide it for a long while, couldn't you? You could find a way to bank it, spend it, whatever, without anyone else knowing a thing, couldn't you? And, of course, you could give it back. Well, that's you. The drug addicted fool who actually found the money did none of these things. He created a bizarre whirwind of motion, but, in the end, he lost it all.
Mark Bowden tells this story fast and he tells it very well. You can rip through it in a night or two. It will be time well used.

Rating:
Summary: A BRISK, NEAT LITTLE STORY
Review: This is a true story about something that lurks in everyone's daydreams: What if I found a million dollars? What would I do with it? The man in this book DID find a million, in untraceable bills.
What would you do with that kind of money? Hide it for a long, long while, then carefully spend it? Find a way to sneak it into various bank accounts? Give it back to the armored car company that lost it? You would do something with it, right? Well, that's you. The fool who found it in real life created a whirlwind of motion, plotting, and bragging that resulted in virtually nothing. Yeah, he lost the money.
Mark Bowden tells this story fast and he tells it very well. You can rip through it in a night or two. It will be time well spent.

Rating:
Summary: Losers, are Always Weepers
Review: Written like a fiction novel, Bowden tells the true story of an instant financial windfall of $1.2 million for Joey Coyle an unemployed, drug dependant, loser with nothing going for him and the IQ of a rock. Joey, depressed after his drug dealer wasn't home spots a yellow container on the side of the road which he thinks would make a good tool box. Looking inside he discovers two bags with reserve bank written on them. Not really caring that this money obviously belongs to someone he quickly puts the bags in his friend's car and they drive away.

This book tells what Joey does with the money in the seven days it takes the authorities to work out he took it and capture him. It is a crime in Philadelphia not to try and return something found with a value over $250. His big plans and how absolutely terrified he gets when he realises the mob is not around just to help you change hundred dollar notes into smaller currency are examined in detail. You'll be amazed at just how stupid this guy is. Also the stupidity of Purolator Armored Car Company and their drivers who lost the money of the back of the truck in the first place.

What would you do if you found 1.2 million? To be honest I would keep it but I sure wouldn't be as stupid as Joey. This is an extremely interesting book. I never heard of the actual story before so I have no idea how accurate this book portrays events but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It does drag on a bit with the trial and epilogue at the end which could have been summed up with a lot less paragraphs. Apart from that though, I was addicted and wanted to know the outcome. Highly recommended!