Money Talks edition by Laurence Shames Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
Download As PDF : Money Talks edition by Laurence Shames Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks 
From the Foreword
Money Talks is a novel with a strange past behind it—and an even stranger present all around it. It’s a book that some readers and reviewers have been kind enough to call prophetic. That’s a nice word, and very flattering, but let’s be clear It just does not apply here.
Back in 2009--when the novel was first published with the title Maxxed Out and under the pseudonym David Collins--neither I nor anyone else imagined how the world would look less than a decade later, or who would be in charge. I wasn’t trying to write a political satire or a predictive dystopia. All I wanted to do was to create an entertaining fiction--part boardroom drama, part dark comedy, part love story, and part murder mystery--about a New York real-estate mogul with a bullying manner, a head of hair flamboyant enough to match his ego, and a somewhat childish fixation to see his name on very large buildings. I wanted to get inside the head of such a man, to understand what drove him, what kind of bottomless need was behind his unremitting quest for attention and for power. First and foremost, then, Money Talks was intended as a character study of a certain kind of billionaire and a certain kind of villain.
Cut to the present. Read the headlines. Check out the news. I think you’ll get the picture. And I hope you’ll agree that this novel, while it makes no claim whatsoever to prophecy, has turned out, at the very least, to be weirdly…and even spookily, timely.
Money Talks edition by Laurence Shames Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
One of the authors I know suggested some time back that I would enjoy reading the "Key West" books by Laurence Shames. He was right. I read a bunch of them and loved 'em. In fact, I even did some reviews of them on Amazon. So when I saw that this book was now being sold under Laurence Shames' actual name instead of "David Collins" - the pseudonym he used when the book first came out, I decided I wanted to read it.And so I am. My usual reviewing style is that I write them as I go along in the book rather than wait until I'm finished with it. Right now, I'm about halfway through "Money Talks" and I really like it a lot. Totally different than the laid-back Key West style of Shames with his cast of retired Mafia guys and the usual bunch of Florida whack jobs.
Money Talks is a book about Manhattan and the world of book publishing and high rollers like the dominant character who's a not-well-disguised Donald Trump type. The story is about David Collins (remember him? He was the "author" of the first edition of "Money Talks" and just happens to be the lead player in the book. He plays a ghost writer working with Robert Maxx, the Donald Trump-like real estate developer/financial magnate whose "autobiography" is the title on which Collins is working.
Their relationship gets off to a bit of a rocky start with Robert Maxx showing what kind of a weasel he is by lying to David about the amount he's being paid for his story. He tells David that he's getting a million dollars and will pay the ghost writer ten percent of that amount - $100,000. In fact, David knows that Maxx is being paid five times that much and so he knows he's being chiseled and lied to. But David needs the money, so he agrees with the billionaire to go along with the proposed arrangement with hopes that it can be negotiated later on as the book progresses.
The story's two main characters, David and Robert Maxx, also have their lives complicated by various women in their respective worlds. David is dealing with an ex-wife with whom he's still friends and hopes to reignite their relationship. And Robert Maxx, as might be expected (since he's a Donald Trump-type character) has all sorts of models, actresses and TV personalities in his life. (Not to mention the gorgeous employees he's known to hire.)
As the story progresses, Maxx's complicated dealings get even more twisted and complex and his attempt to buy Rockefeller Center (and rename it Maxx Center to the consternation of New Yorkers of all stripes) takes on a major part of the autobiography they're working on. As the financial dealings get more and more difficult, Maxx's true personality comes out and all kinds of difficulty surround his dealings, including an attempt to get a huge amount of the financing from the New York mob.
Money Talks is a great read, fully deserving of the five stars I've given. The pages almost take on a life of their own and seem to turn themselves as the story unfolds. Even though this book was originally written several years ago, it has held up extremely well and is just as though it was ripped from Page Six of a certain New York tabloid last week. Here's a timeless story that ought to be enjoyed by readers of thrillers everywhere.
For the ghostwriter and his former wife/maybe soon be again wife, things worked out well for them financially. For the billionaire Robert Maxx, the Donald Trump-like mogul around whom the book revolves - as for things working out - not so much. But after reading Money Talks by its REAL author Laurence Shames, we readers are the real winners.
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Money Talks edition by Laurence Shames Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks Reviews
Very different from Laurence Shames' "Key West" novels, which are colorful and usually hilarious; this is more like an "ordinary novel". In fact, I would never have guessed this was written by Shames. Story is about a not-too-successful ghost writers who gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to write the "definitive" biography about a multi-millionnaire businessman (think Donald Trump like...). Maybe because I expected something different, it took me a while to appreciate the story. It is told at a nice pace, it is believable and has a satisfactory ending. A decent read.
If you hanker for a break from Key West than I suggest a trip straight up Interstate 95 and the perfect place to stop is New York. The big apple, with larger than life characters. Where the movers and shakers of high finance roam the skyscraper jungle, searching for the next big deal. A timely fascinating look into this world is brought to you by "Money Talks". As a bonus we get a look behind the scenes of how those big celebrity names really write their books and make their deals. It's a mystery, a reveal all, a love story, ....a very good read.
Something different from Mr Shames, and delightfully so. If you are expecting Bert the Shirt and the usual Key West crowd, fuggedaboutit!
This is a "reissue" of Shames' novel, "Maxxed Out", which crashed and burned in it's earlier release (explained fully in the closing Author's Note). It's a good story, but maybe you have to be a little bit of a New Yorker to appreciate it fully. It seems clear whom the author had in mind when he created the Robert Maxx character, but don't let any per-conceived opinions interfere with reading the entire book. You might just find a hint of yourself in one of the characters. The ghostwriter did.
Read it...it's enjoyable.
Shames moves the action, humor, and pathos from his usual Key West stomping grounds to Manhattan without losing the laughs and his signature wry and surprising insights into celebrity, relationships, and fate, accompanied by great food and fine wine. Shames' underdog ghostwriter faces off with a monstrous ego-maniac business tycoon in a complicated dance where veils keep falling to reveal glimpses of humanness in the big shot and of courage in the wimp. A striking writerly nuance is the evolution of "the story" into THE STORY. A perfect summer read for the beach -- your laughter will keep the gulls away but your absorption in the story may lead to sunburn.
I’ve enjoyed Laurence Shames’s Key West novels so much that it never even occurred to me to wonder if he had other moves. Well, he does! MONEY TALKS is an excellent read, as savvy about NY as the earlier books are about FL. The plot—sort of a mystery, but not exactly--is a classic underdog story that pits a lovable semi-schlub of a ghostwriter against a very convincingly awful billionaire/real estate mogul/bully, cheat, liar, etc. The many twists and power-shifts in the story are surprising, but at the same time always believable. Shames sets scenes in boardrooms, mansions, publishing offices, fancy restaurants, doctor’s offices—and they all ring true. He finds humor even in some pretty dicey situations, and even the minor characters have enough quirks and humanness that they come across as real people—real New Yorkers. This is high quality entertainment, and I think Shames’s Key West fans will be impressed with his new dance. I certainly have been. - Kathy Hurley - Chicago, IL
One of the authors I know suggested some time back that I would enjoy reading the "Key West" books by Laurence Shames. He was right. I read a bunch of them and loved 'em. In fact, I even did some reviews of them on . So when I saw that this book was now being sold under Laurence Shames' actual name instead of "David Collins" - the pseudonym he used when the book first came out, I decided I wanted to read it.
And so I am. My usual reviewing style is that I write them as I go along in the book rather than wait until I'm finished with it. Right now, I'm about halfway through "Money Talks" and I really like it a lot. Totally different than the laid-back Key West style of Shames with his cast of retired Mafia guys and the usual bunch of Florida whack jobs.
Money Talks is a book about Manhattan and the world of book publishing and high rollers like the dominant character who's a not-well-disguised Donald Trump type. The story is about David Collins (remember him? He was the "author" of the first edition of "Money Talks" and just happens to be the lead player in the book. He plays a ghost writer working with Robert Maxx, the Donald Trump-like real estate developer/financial magnate whose "autobiography" is the title on which Collins is working.
Their relationship gets off to a bit of a rocky start with Robert Maxx showing what kind of a weasel he is by lying to David about the amount he's being paid for his story. He tells David that he's getting a million dollars and will pay the ghost writer ten percent of that amount - $100,000. In fact, David knows that Maxx is being paid five times that much and so he knows he's being chiseled and lied to. But David needs the money, so he agrees with the billionaire to go along with the proposed arrangement with hopes that it can be negotiated later on as the book progresses.
The story's two main characters, David and Robert Maxx, also have their lives complicated by various women in their respective worlds. David is dealing with an ex-wife with whom he's still friends and hopes to reignite their relationship. And Robert Maxx, as might be expected (since he's a Donald Trump-type character) has all sorts of models, actresses and TV personalities in his life. (Not to mention the gorgeous employees he's known to hire.)
As the story progresses, Maxx's complicated dealings get even more twisted and complex and his attempt to buy Rockefeller Center (and rename it Maxx Center to the consternation of New Yorkers of all stripes) takes on a major part of the autobiography they're working on. As the financial dealings get more and more difficult, Maxx's true personality comes out and all kinds of difficulty surround his dealings, including an attempt to get a huge amount of the financing from the New York mob.
Money Talks is a great read, fully deserving of the five stars I've given. The pages almost take on a life of their own and seem to turn themselves as the story unfolds. Even though this book was originally written several years ago, it has held up extremely well and is just as though it was ripped from Page Six of a certain New York tabloid last week. Here's a timeless story that ought to be enjoyed by readers of thrillers everywhere.
For the ghostwriter and his former wife/maybe soon be again wife, things worked out well for them financially. For the billionaire Robert Maxx, the Donald Trump-like mogul around whom the book revolves - as for things working out - not so much. But after reading Money Talks by its REAL author Laurence Shames, we readers are the real winners.
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