Guest Review: Suspicion

Summary: When single father Danny Goodman suddenly finds himself unable to afford the private school his teenage daughter adores, he has no one to turn to for financial support.

In what seems like a stroke of brilliant luck, Danny meets Thomas Galvin, the father of his daughter’s new best friend, who also happens to be one of the wealthiest men in Boston. Galvin is aware of Danny’s situation and out of the blue offers a $50,000 loan to help Danny cover his daughter’s tuition. Uncomfortable but desperate, Danny takes the money, promising to pay Galvin back.

What transpires is something Danny never imagined. The moment the money is wired into his account, the DEA comes knocking on his door. Danny’s impossible choice: an indictment for accepting drug money that he can’t afford to fight in court, or an unthinkably treacherous undercover assignment helping the government get close to his new family friend.

As Danny begins to lie to everyone in his life, including those he loves most in the world, he must decide once and for all who the real enemy is or risk losing everything—and everyone—that matters to him. -- Dutton

I was happy to receive a book review from my dad yesterday only to discover that it's for a book I already reviewed. After reading SUSPICION by Joseph Finder, I thought my dad might enjoy the book so I passed it along to him. He read it on his recent trip to Italy and provided me with a review -- he's good that way. Even though I already posted a review for SUSPICION on this blog, I decided it wouldn't hurt to post another one. Here are my dad's thoughts:

SUSPICION by Joseph Finder opens with main character Danny Goodman in a financial dilemma. Danny, a widower and father of a teen age daughter, finds himself without sufficient funds to cover her tuition at a pricey Boston exclusive girls’ school. In order not to disappoint his daughter, Danny borrows $50,000 from Thomas Gavin, a wealthy Boston money manager and father of his daughter’s best friend. At this point Danny’s life dramatically changes.

Danny immediately becomes the target of two DEA agents. He learns that Gavin handles billions of dollars for a ruthless Mexican drug cartel. Danny must decide to co-operate and cope with the risk of the drug cartel finding out or face an indictment for money laundering. Danny decides to cooperate. He’s first task for the DEA is to plant a listening device in Gavin’s office and later he downloads information from Gavin’s phone. Danny finds himself in a constant state of anxiety and having to regularly lie to both his daughter and girlfriend. His assignment is further complicated when he and Gavin become friends. Danny finds the determination to calm himself and devises a plan to end this nightmare and salvage the relationships with his girlfriend and daughter.

SUSPICION is a typical thriller where ordinary people are put into heroic situations; there’s plenty of violence and death; and the ending is a surprise after following the mandatory twists and turns. The author does differentiate himself from other thrillers with his strong character development and a well-paced and suspenseful storyline.

Although SUSPICION offers nothing particularly unique to the thriller genre, it’s a good page turner that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good suspense thriller.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this novel and to Booking Pap Pap for his review.