Follow the Money by Fingers Murphy

I have so many things from my day job that would be great openers to start this book review with, but... my day job prohibits the discussion.  I could start with... we had this one case where this one guy did this one thing, and this book totally reminds me of that.  

Or...

 I could start with this boyfriend I had back when I was 18 that stole a bag of drug money worth 50 grand and then turned it into the police claiming he had found it on the street knowing that after so much time...  he'd get the money back. And then some other stuff happened that wasn't very fun, and his friends found out that I knew about the money, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 

But I won't.

Follow the Money by Fingers Murphy is a fast-paced legal thriller that easily draws you in from the opening page. "There was blood everywhere." Jim Carver leaned back in his chair, chewing a mussel cooked in saffron. "At least that's how the papers described it. Apparently he was covered with it when they found him, out in his front yard, stammering like an idiot about someone killing his wife." 

24 year old Ollie Olsen is a third year law student that is spending his summer interning at a prestigious law firm.  Ollie comes from a working class family and has his heart in the right place- his entire purpose for studying law was so he could give back to society. But his purpose and his direction soon change when he's enticed by the clothes, the cars, the jewelry, and just the unbelievably wealthy lifestyle of the people he works with. 

Ollie's first assignment is to review the findings of a twelve year old murder case and write the petition to have the conviction overturned. Not too difficult of an assignment until Ollie starts to dig a little deeper into the case and finds himself stumbling upon more than one incident of deception by every witness involved. 

In the story you'll read about a former U.S. Senator convicted of killing his wife, a defense attorney that screwed up the initial investigation that landed the Senator in prison, an old boyfriend or two, a reporter that loses his head, a secret stash of photos, a lost chest full of five million dollars (or was that three), and an affair that jeopardizes the one true constant in Ollie's life. 

Follow the Money by Fingers Murphy is a terrific debut novel. The protagonist is young, broke, insecure, weak, and always eager to find the truth. He reminds me of my beagle, Dora... always digging; always wanting to know what lies below and behind the surface. Dora once dug up the carpet just to see what was underneath. Then she ripped up the leather sofa so she could look at the stuffing. She's currently in the process of digging holes in the sheet rock because she's under the impression something interesting lurks behind the wall. 

Ollie is just like Dora... doesn't matter how many times you tell the guy not to do something, he's gonna do it anyway. And not only will he do the one thing you told him not to do, but he'll do a dozen other things just to prove that he can.  And it's these decisions that Ollie makes, regardless of how immature they may be, that keep people turning the page.  Follow the Money was a fun and entertaining read, and I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.

Follow the Money by Fingers Murphy is available on the KINDLE, the NOOK, and on SMASHWORDS.

About Fingers Murphy:

Fingers Murphy is a pen name. The author is an international lawyer whose legal scholarship has been published in academic journals and in book form by one of the largest publishers in the world.

He also claims to live in Salt Lake City and pretty much forced me to follow him on Twitter. ;-)