The Millionaires

The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer
Mass Market Paperback, 524 pages
Warner Books, 2002
ISBN-13: 9780446611923
action/adventure

recommended

Synopsis from the cover:

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers working at an ultra-exclusive bank when they're faced with an offer they can't refuse - three million dollars in an abandoned account that no one even knows exists. Almost as soon as they take the cash, a friend is killed and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female P.I. are closing in. Now the Caruso brothers are on the run and about to uncover an explosive secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

My Thoughts:

While The Millionaires is entertaining and does deliver the action, it is also one of those novels that border on the unbelievable in several different ways. The plot itself, with brother's on the run out witting the Secret Service, is a stretch, to say the least, and there are several unrealsitic elements in it. The writing isn't the best, and the dialogue between the brothers is sometimes annoying. However, it is an easy to read and follow thriller that held my attention to the end, which counts for something. Recommended

Quotes:

I know where I'm going. And I know who I want to be. That's why I took this job in the first place ... and why, four years later, I still put up with the clients. And their demands. And their wads of money. Most of the time, they just want to keep a low profile, which is actually the bank's specialty. Other times, they want a little ... personal touch. opening

"Charlie!" I shout.
He stops right there-he already knows I'm wound too tight. "I could really use your help," I add, watching his reaction. For anyone else, it'd be a moment to treasure-an admission of weakness that could forever retip the scales between walnut desks and beige Formica. To be honest, I probably have it coming.
My brother looks me straight in the eye. "Tell me what you need me to do," he says. pg. 7

"What are you saying? You think it's fake?"

"I have no idea - but just think how easy that was: Some guy calls up, threatens that he wants his forty million bucks, then gives you an account number and says 'Make it happen.' " pg. 13

"What do you want me to say, Charlie? All the guy ever does is lurk around and act suspicious. Then suddenly, you walk in and he's Mr. Sunshine."

"See, there's where you're wrong. He's always Mr. Sunshine - in fact he's a rainbow of fruit flavors - but you're so busy angling with Lapidus and Tanner Drew and all the other bigshots, you forgot that the little poeple know how to talk too." pg. 21

"Is it really that crazy, Ollie?" he asks, his voice now serious. "I man, who's really gonna miss that cash? The owner's dead... it's about to be stolen by someone else... and if the government gets it... oh, they'll really put the funds to good use."

Just like that, I sit up straight. "Charlie, I hate to burst your seventeenth fantasy for the day, but what you're talking about is illegal. Say it out loud... illll-eeeeeegal." pg. 36