Review: Great Page Turner
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 18, 2014
Dead Winners is suspense with a twist. It features a likable former Marine, Brent Layne, as the protagonist. Life’s been rough since the war and work hard to find. His appointment to the Commissioner of the South Carolina lottery is a godsend, except things are exactly as they seem, rather like the Governor.Brent’s actual job is to discover whose diverting lottery funds and killing lottery winners. All he really knows despite his war experience he’s not trained for this type of espionage, but he needs the job desperately. It may patch up the rift between his girlfriend, Robin and him.  Besides, he has had experience in rooting out the bad person, but his current job may be more dangerous than his stint in Afghanistan. At least there, he had a clue who to avoid to keep breathing.Author Dave McDonald writes a tight tale with an intriguing hero. The narrative cadence and details give truth to protagonist as a former marine.  Greed motivates everyone including the killer, the larcenous employees, and the lottery ticket buyers. At the beginning of Dead Winners, the killer is told that nothing is free. Mr. McDonald does a stellar job of presenting this. This enjoyable thriller kept me up turning pages long after I should have been asleep.I received the book as a most welcome gift.