Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: A riot in Miami causes businesses to shut early, the police to take the streets, and a number of people to think about the loot in a bank safety deposit box. The bank manager has been drooling over the money; the man who's been putting the money in the bank wants it free and clear; his lawyer and partner would kill for the money; an FBI agent thinks it would be the perfect retirement gift, and just about every local or state cop who hears about it wants it. The money keeps moving--and the body count keeps creeping up. But the one really innocent man, Bill Tasker, is the one the FBI believes took it. And unless Tasker can find the real thief(s), he's the one going to jail.
Tasker has had a rough time since he was involved in a shooting--he was once accused of killing a dirty cop to suppress evidence of his own involvement--and now things are getting rougher. He's suspended from his job, investigated by the FBI, and even his friends are interested in what he's going to do with the money. The only good thing he has going for him is that both his ex-wife and the pretty cop from the office are suddenly much more interested.
Author James O. Born is a long-time Florida cop and his knowledge of the state shines through. The money really does walk, changing hands frequently, and the FBI is presented as the bunch of well-intentioned boy-scouts they often are. I would have liked to see more character development, more purpose to Tasker's search for evidence to clear himself, and a bit less of the frantic exchange of money between the criminals and cops, but that didn't keep this from being an engaging story.
Rating: 
Summary: Great debut for a new South Florida crime fiction series
Review: Elmore Leonard blurbs that "Jim Born is the real thing-" I agree; really liked the sure handling of a police based story un-fettered with forensics details or deep procedural specifics, written by a law enforcement professional.
Walking Money is a story about twists and turns taken following a bag of big money that makes it hard for Bill Tasker, a good cop, to get his life together. Born gives us a tightly written tale introducing a sympathetic character, with good laughs, good suspense and personal drama, in a voice all his own. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series takes us.
Rating:
Summary: A solid debut effort
Review: Florida state police Bill Tasker is in trouble. He is under suspicion for stealing over one and one-half million dollars. He knows he was framed but the question is by who? The reader, however, is for the most part well aware of who has the money- the greedy lawyer of a false preacher, the corrupt FBI agent, the corrupt cop or even a girlfriend- some still alive but some now dead. The money moves from place to place- hence the title of this overall successful debut.
There is a certain wacky sense of reality in this quite noir novel. One is almost reminded of the Elmore Leonard books (who just so happens to give a front cover blurb). The length is somewhat slight yet there is much repetition of the plot that reflects a novice's inability to stay focused on the storyline. The book, therefore, reads longer than it actually is. The characters remain the strength and raise this book among many other firsts this year. Most characters are realistic especially Bill Tasker. Others such as the lawyer Cole Hodges or the corrupt FBI agent, Tom Dooley are characatures but nonetheless remain interesting and viable creations. Overall an auspicious debut effort.
Rating:
Summary: A solid debut effort
Review: Florida state police Bill Tasker is in trouble. He is under suspicion for stealing over one and one-half million dollars. He knows he was framed but the question is by who? The reader, however, is for the most part well aware of who has the money- the greedy lawyer of a false preacher, the corrupt FBI agent, the corrupt cop or even a girlfriend- some still alive but some now dead. The money moves from place to place- hence the title of this overall successful debut.
There is a certain wacky sense of reality in this quite noir novel. One is almost reminded of the Elmore Leonard books (who just so happens to give a front cover blurb). The length is somewhat slight yet there is much repetition of the plot that reflects a novice's inability to stay focused on the storyline. The book, therefore, reads longer than it actually is. The characters remain the strength and raise this book among many other firsts this year. Most characters are realistic especially Bill Tasker. Others such as the lawyer Cole Hodges or the corrupt FBI agent, Tom Dooley are characatures but nonetheless remain interesting and viable creations. Overall an auspicious debut effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Reborning of It?s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Review: Florida state police brass felt fellow officer Bill Tasker killed a cop, but wanted to avoid the messy scandal of an inquiry. Thus, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement transferred him from the West Palm Beach Field Office to the Miami Regional Center. Bill would have welcomed the investigation because he knows he did not kill the cop, but goes along with the bureaucracy because he does not trust the political hacks who run the department. Four years later, he still watches his step.Former convict Cole Hodges embezzled one and half million dollars of money donated to Miami's Committee for Community Relief. Tasker investigates the shortfall. However, FBI Agent Tom Dooley decides to take the loot. To insure that he gets away with the crime and knowing he has the perfect pasty, he stuffs cash in Tasker?s outdoor grill; Tasker is investigated and pulled off the embezzlement case. Police officer Rick Bema concludes that Dooley stole the money and set up Tasker to take the fall. Instead of turning in his findings, Bema makes a bid for a piece of the action. WALKING MONEY is a wild Florida police procedural filled with cops coming down with gold fever while the only police officer who stays pristine becomes the prime suspect. Fans will think of It?s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with everyone double crossing and chasing one another in pursuit of the embezzled funds. The bad cops make the tale a fun police procedural, but the tainted divorced Bill, father of a ten year old, keeps the tale focused so that the audience will appreciate a zany cynical ride. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Reborning of It¿s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Review: Florida state police brass felt fellow officer Bill Tasker killed a cop, but wanted to avoid the messy scandal of an inquiry. Thus, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement transferred him from the West Palm Beach Field Office to the Miami Regional Center. Bill would have welcomed the investigation because he knows he did not kill the cop, but goes along with the bureaucracy because he does not trust the political hacks who run the department. Four years later, he still watches his step. Former convict Cole Hodges embezzled one and half million dollars of money donated to Miami's Committee for Community Relief. Tasker investigates the shortfall. However, FBI Agent Tom Dooley decides to take the loot. To insure that he gets away with the crime and knowing he has the perfect pasty, he stuffs cash in Tasker's outdoor grill; Tasker is investigated and pulled off the embezzlement case. Police officer Rick Bema concludes that Dooley stole the money and set up Tasker to take the fall. Instead of turning in his findings, Bema makes a bid for a piece of the action. WALKING MONEY is a wild Florida police procedural filled with cops coming down with gold fever while the only police officer who stays pristine becomes the prime suspect. Fans will think of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with everyone double crossing and chasing one another in pursuit of the embezzled funds. The bad cops make the tale a fun police procedural, but the tainted divorced Bill, father of a ten year old, keeps the tale focused so that the audience will appreciate a zany cynical ride. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A fine Florida debut
Review: In the best tradition of Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen, James O. Born has produced a twisted, fascinating and hilarious first novel of cops and crooks plying their trade in corrupt and juicy southern Florida.
The plot of Walking Money revolves around a crooked minister and his on-the-lam sidekick, who have scammed $1.5 million in cash from their community foundation. When word gets out, every bent operator in the city is desperate to get his hands on the lucre. It's up to state cop Bill Tasker to make sure none of them do.
This book will have readers laughing one minute and wincing the next, as the author leads them along a deliciously circuitous journey with all the skill and polish of a veteran writer. Born spent 17 years in law enforcement, so he obviously knows the criminal territory well. What is surprising is just how good a writer he is. I look forward to his next book.
Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times
Rating:
Summary: can't wait for the movie
Review: jim born's book is great! i've never been into crime fiction but i read this because he is a florida writer. i can't wait for his next one. the constant twists and turns in the plot made it hard for me to put it down and all the characters were so vivid, funny, and real. given born's expertise in law enforcment, he gives the reader a clear view of what it would be like to live the life of a cop and to realize they are real people with real problems. very entertaining and a real fun read. this book will be great as a movie. well done mr. born, you have a new fan.
Rating:
Summary: Great police story
Review: This book interested me from the blurbs on the cover. Big time writers like John Sanford don't endorse soemthing unless it's good. This comical story of a cop caught up in someone else's scheme kept me involved from the first page to the last.
The author is a cop and it shows in how the characters intereact, joke and even how they fight. This is a fast moving., involving book with a ton of well placed twists and turns.
I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good detective story and realizm. I hope there is a series with the main character, Bill Tasker. The guy is interesting without being a carbon copy of TV cops. His life outside his work has a beat and interest as well. This really was a great book
EJ
Rating:
Summary: This book sizzled along
Review: This is the most compelling, fast paced, intelligent book I've read in a year. The story of a cop framed by a FBI agent is funny, and feels like it really happened. A crooked reverend takes cash from the homeless but the FBI agent steals it. When things get hot he pins it on a Florida State agent. This felt like a good movie. I coul;d see the action unfold and felt like the characters were fighting for their lives. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone, not just readers of mysteries.
|
