BOOK REVIEW: "Dead Money Run" by J. Frank James

Lou Malloy learns of his sister's death right before he is released from prison, having served 15 years for the theft of $15 million from an Indian casino. He wants two things: to keep the $15 million, which no one has been able to find, and to track down and punish whoever killed his sister.

Lou Malloy teams up with Hilary Kelly, a private investigator. In no time, Lou has found the hidden $15 million, recovered guns and ammunition hidden with the money, and murdered two low-level mobsters and fed them to the crocodiles. 

As the body count rises, the story grows more complex and his sister's death becomes more mysterious.

I received a copy of this book from the author's publicist in exchange for an honest review.

In a world of "sex sells", it was a very nice thing to come across a novel where, yes, there is a romance involved, but the true love here is the love of family. Despite Dead Money Run being a great thriller, it has something that a novel focusing on a criminal usually doesn't: a lot of heart.
Lou Malloy is a thief, and a cunning one at that. He has successfully been able to stash (and recover) fifteen million dollars! Lou is surprisingly likable, for his faults, and a big part of it is his love for his sister.
Hilary, in my opinion, was a far better character than Lou. I love female private eyes, by the way. Rarely do we get to see women in investigative positions like that, and her role was very refreshing to the story. There were a lot of things that Mr. James could have made her, but her profession and her inevitable turning from the case to be with Lou was a nice touch.
The story was mysterious, though I did wind up guessing the outcome, it took me most of the book to do so. That right there is a big deal, for me! Money, murder, mystery...you can't ask for much more! I hope that one day we might get a prequel about Hilary. I'd love to know more about her!
(Off to request to review the prequel novella of Lou's story...)

4/5--thrilling and a lot of fun to read!

Purchase Dead Money Run via Amazon!