Good People Marcus Sakey

Marcus Sakey is a writer of crime novels that are set in the blue collar world in the south side of Chicago. Sakey attended the University of Michigan and worked for ten years in advertising and marketing. To research for his crime novels, Sakey followed homicide detectives, toured morgues, rode along with gang cops, and went shooting with Special Forces soldiers. He is the author of Good People, The Blade Itself, The Amateurs, Accelerant, Brilliance, A Better World, and The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. Sakey is also the writer and host of Hidden City on the Travel Channel. Good People was one of the best mysteries of 2008 and was nominated for a Barry Award for best thriller of 2008. Good People is now also a major motion picture starring James Franco, Kate Hudson, Tom Wilkinson, and Omar Sy. The Blade Itself, one of his first novels, is a New York Times editors choice, was nominated for an Anthony, a Barry, a Dilys, and a Crimespree award, and the movie rights have been sold to Ben Affleck.

Young, middle class couple, Tom and Anna Reed are deeply in love, but are struggling both financially and in their attempts to have a baby. Until one day, they find $370,000 in their tenant’s apartment. Suddenly their happily ever after doesn’t seem quite so far away. But before too long, Tom and Anna will find out where the money came from. They will come head to head with the men who it belongs to. These men have been double crossed and they are ruthless and will stop at nothing to get their money back. Tom and Anna will find out the hard way that nothing comes free and their happiness and safety could come at a cost higher than they could have known.

This novel is a thrilling story that will leave readers anxious to flip the page. Although at times Good People can be a violent story of greed and malevolence, it is a fast paced exciting read. Publishers Weekly gave Good People a starred review and said, “Masterful… Sakey, who excels at taking ordinary ‘good people’ and forcing them to meet terrible challenges, ratchets up the stakes, creating ever more diabolical traps and even more desperate escapes until the final shattering conclusion.” Overall, this is a great book for any reader who enjoys crime and suspense novels, although younger adult readers should probably stick to a lighter, less violent read.