Jim's Reviews > The Fixer

Boston based writer Rick Hoffman finds himself out of his high paying magazine gig, stuck with the long empty dilapidated family home, and his prominent lawyer father incapacitated for some twenty years now from a massive stroke. In author Joseph Finder's, "The Fixer", Rick's is truly down on his luck, and has arrived at a very troubling time in his life. With his sister Wendy out in Seattle, Rick is forced to deal with the old family home. Long empty and pretty much falling down, Rick low on cash is between a rock and a hard place. In a house with rats, walls falling down, and mold everywhere Rick finds a very interesting surprise. Tucked away in a crawl space Rick comes across a tarp covering a pile. Rick is really thrown for a loop pulling up the tarp. Underneath the tarp is $3.4 million in cash. Rick immediately gets with his next door neighbor Jeff, a small business construction company owner a lucrative deal to fix up the old house to be saleable. Unable to communicate with his father Rick needs to figure out how all this money ended up hidden away. Rick's Father Len, a long time lawyer to whom most people would consider very undesirable clients, is tucked away in a nursing home after having a massive stroke some twenty years past. Len was a lawyer that whose most of his clients were in adult businesses such as bookstores and topless bars. Rick must go diving back into decades old contracts, corruption, graft, and payouts of the old Boston way, to ask was everyone getting "Paid" ?. With an exciting plot that forces Rick back into time and reconstructing his father's old law practice, this thriller keeps the reader guessing which way the plot would spin. Rick had to continually decide who to trust and who to be afraid of. Running around Boston spending money like crazy switching rental cars and hotel rooms Rick is an easy target for several bad guys. Protagonist Rick Hoffman is a likeable but yet naive character that has plenty of guts. Rick is actually a pretty good investigative reporter/ detective as he gets to the bottom of Boston's famous "Big Dig" (1990's massive tunnel project). The lively and unique supporting characters add a lot of flair to the plot as well. With a little romance thrown in, this book is difficult to put down. After the first couple times I'd sat down reading, "The Fixer", I knew it was a really excellent read. When I got to about the 50 % counter on my Kindle I could not put it down. This riveting story just grabbed me forcing me to ride through the plot's turns, and spins to it's conclusion. Once again author Joseph Finder proves to be a master story teller. One of my favorite authors as well. Of the five or six books of his I've read, each has been a solid enjoyable read. I'm giving, "The Fixer", five stars out of a possible five stars. A free standing read, this one is a DO NOT MISS !. One of the best thriller writers out there today Joseph Finder spins and weaves excellent tales of suspense and intrigue. Check this one out for sure. When you get a chance jut pick up some of Joseph Finder's excellent thrillers for a wild ride worth taking.