"Good People" by Marcus Sakey

Good People
Marcus Sakey
Dutton
August 14, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-95084-4


Marcus Sakey’s third book, Good People comes at the perfect time on the American landscape. With so many people facing economic challenges, it’s easy for readers to put themselves in the shoes of Chicago yuppies Tom and Anna Reed. They work good jobs, own a two family home, live in a good neighborhood, and are trying to have a baby. And yet, their pressing financial challenges (including expensive fertility treatments that haven’t yet worked) make their lives far from perfect, putting a strain on their marriage and themselves.

To make ends meet, they have a single tenant downstairs, an unfriendly loner whom they only seem to see outdoors when he’s having a smoke. One night, the downstairs fire alarm goes off, and the Reeds’ lives change forever. As they race downstairs to put out a grease fire in the kitchen, they discover a windfall…and a dead body. Now ask yourself, what would you do if you found $400,000 in the apartment of a dead man?

To the Reeds, the money represents financial freedom, a new look at the hold their jobs have on them, freedom from mounting credit card bills, and an opportunity to keep on trying for a baby. As readers, we sympathize with their dilemma, even while we know that this is not going to end up well. As a Chicago detective begins to piece together the story, criminals begin appearing out of the woodwork, threatening the couple. They can’t rely on the police because of their own criminal behavior (keeping the stolen money), and they are no match for the thugs who are interested in the cash and seeking revenge.

The rest is a wild roller coaster ride to the end, with any number of violent encounters. Yet, Sakey is no simple mystery writer; he’s been compared with Dennis Lehane, who has also written a ringing endorsement of Good People. Sakey makes readers care about the Reeds, enabling them to see how easy it would be to make the mistakes that prove so dangerous for the Reeds. The only question is that the ending gets wrapped up a little too neatly, although what happens to the money does provide a little surprise to the story. Sakey is a writer to enjoy, and “Good People” is a book that will keep readers entranced until the final page.


Review first published on IJustFinished.com.