Review: Fast Cash by J. Gregory Smith

 Genre: Crime Fiction/Thriller

Description:

“Hustlers Without Borders

Overseas scammers swindle an elderly Philadelphia woman out of her life’s savings. Soon after, the crooks use her stolen information to target her friends and neighbors in a relentless plague of cons. After getting nowhere with the local authorities, she takes her case to Kyle Logan and his crew of misfits who look after the neighborhood by operating outside the law with their own code of justice.

They’ve never gone after criminals outside of the country before and Kyle knows they’ll need to enlist help on the ground if they’re going to have a chance to recover any stolen funds. What he doesn’t realize is that their new allies may be more dangerous than their foes.

Meanwhile, closer to home, Kyle sees a disturbing invasion of cut-rate home contractors who sell themselves with the zeal of a cult. Called Sweat Equity, the business has formed a partnership with the city government amid glowing praise from the media. When Kyle digs deeper, he learns why the group refuses to take no for an answer and that the group is more than willing to add blood to the sweat.”

Author:

J. Gregory Smith used to work in public relations before he began writing full time. He has several books in thrill and mystery genres, some self-published and at least one published by Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer imprint.

Appraisal:

This is a mix of crime fiction and thriller. The “good guys” in this story are technically criminals since they’re operating outside the law, but they’re doing this to counteract criminals who are taking advantage of vulnerable people. The “bad guys” are two sets of people, one set is outside the country while the other is close to home. This mix of different criminals, different crimes, different techniques being used to take advantage of their victims, and different approaches to helping and protecting the victims makes for an interesting story with lots of variety that drew me in and kept me engaged to the end.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

A minimal amount of adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

Although the number of issues didn’t reach the level at which it is reflected in my overall rating, this book did have more proofreading issues that didn’t get caught than I like to see.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words