Good People By Marcus Sakey

Yigal Zur

i know it is a first thriller to the writer so writers need encouragement so i give 4* even it should be 3.5*. why? the story is good. the writing is fluid and clear but it misses sparks it misses clever and sharp sentancesc and remarks. it is exactly like the name- good people. it is good but not amazing. still i would say that Sakey knows to write, he is good in describing characters and motives but some times it is a bit long and even tend to be a bit bore. but on the whole nice read and good but not amazing.

Bridget

The Reeds are up to their ears in debt. When they're at the pit of despair, not sure how in the world they can turn their life around, they find a boat load of money. The money is calling their name. In their current situation of complete desperation, they make the only decision that seems logical, they take the money. There is no way they could have foreseen how this one decision would change their lives forever. Will they make it out alive?

I was completely drawn into this book before I even finished the second page. I can usually tell from the first chapter whether or not I am going to like a book. The beginning is one of the most important pieces for an author. A good author can entice you within a few paragraphs and keep you interested for the remainder of the book. Marcus is a pro. Seriously. I can't think of one word that would really do his writing justice... I've found another author to put on my "I need everything this author writes list".

Lisa

I had to quit reading this book halfway through, which is too bad because Sakey is a great writer and there's lots of suspense in this story. But the premise of the book is infuriating. Nice couple finds $370k, uses money to help them get pregnant, and bad guys come calling. I just keep yelling at the book, "Call the cops and give them the money!" I can't get over my frustration with the basic plot to enjoy reading this book.

Lesley

good characters, good intentions, good paced story. will look into more by this author.

Christine Zibas

Marcus Sakey’s third book, “Good People” comes at the perfect time on the American landscape. With so many people facing economic challenges, it’s easy for readers to put themselves in the shoes of Chicago yuppies Tom and Anna Reed. They work good jobs, own a two family home, live in a good neighborhood, and are trying to have a baby. And yet, their pressing financial challenges (including expensive fertility treatments that haven’t yet worked) make their lives far from perfect, putting a strain on their marriage and themselves.

To make ends meet, they have a single tenant downstairs, an unfriendly loner whom they only seem to see outdoors when he’s having a smoke. One night, the downstairs fire alarm goes off, and the Reeds’ lives change forever. As they race downstairs to put out a grease fire in the kitchen, they discover a windfall…and a dead body. Now ask yourself, what would you do if you found $400,000 in the apartment of a dead man?

To the Reeds, the money represents financial freedom, a new look at the hold their jobs have on them, freedom from mounting credit card bills, and an opportunity to keep on trying for a baby. As readers, we sympathize with their dilemma, even while we know that this is not going to end up well. As a Chicago detective begins to piece together the story, criminals begin appearing out of the woodwork, threatening the couple. They can’t rely on the police because of their own criminal behavior (keeping the stolen money), and they are no match for the thugs who are interested in the cash and seeking revenge.

The rest is a wild roller coaster ride to the end, with any number of violent encounters. Yet, Sakey is no simple mystery writer; he’s been compared with Dennis Lehane, who has also written a ringing endorsement of “Good People.” Sakey makes readers care about the Reeds, enabling them to see how easy it would be to make the mistakes that prove so dangerous for the Reeds. The only question is that the ending gets wrapped up a little too neatly, although what happens to the money does provide a little surprise to the story. Sakey is a writer to enjoy, and “Good People” is a book that will keep readers entranced until the final page.

Merged review:

Marcus Sakey's third book, Good People comes at the perfect time on the American landscape. With so many people facing economic challenges, it's easy for readers to put themselves in the shoes of Chicago yuppies Tom and Anna Reed.

The Reeds work good jobs, own a two-family home, live in a good neighborhood, and are trying to have a baby. And yet, their pressing financial challenges (including expensive fertility treatments that haven't yet worked) create a situation for them that's far from perfect, putting a strain on their marriage and themselves.

To make ends meet, they have a single tenant downstairs, an unfriendly loner whom they only seem to see outdoors when he's having a smoke. One night, the downstairs fire alarm goes off, and the Reeds' lives change forever. As they race downstairs to put out a grease fire in the kitchen, they discover a windfall and a dead body. Now ask yourself, what would you do if you found $400,000 in the apartment of a dead man?

To the Reeds, the money represents financial freedom, a new look at breaking the hold their jobs have on them, freedom from mounting credit card bills, and an opportunity to keep on trying for a baby. Where once they saw financial disaster, they now see a brighter future.

As readers, we sympathize with their dilemma, even while sensing that this is not going to end up well. As a Chicago police department detective begins to piece together the story, criminals begin appearing out of the woodwork, threatening the couple. However, they can't rely on police protection because of their own criminal behavior (keeping the stolen money), and they are no match for the thugs who are interested in the cash and seeking revenge.

The rest of this mystery novel is a wild roller coaster ride to the end, with any number of violent encounters. Yet, Marcus Sakey is no simple mystery writer; he's been compared with Dennis Lehane, who has also written a ringing endorsement of Good People.

Sakey makes readers care about the Reeds, enabling readers to empathize with the main characters, understanding how easy it would be to make the same mistakes that prove so dangerous for the Reeds. The only disappointment of the book is that the ending gets wrapped up a little too neatly, although what happens to the money in the end does provide a little surprise to the story.

Sakey is a writer to enjoy, and Good People is a book that will keep readers engaged in the action until the final page.

Miles

How far would you go to make all your dreams come true? If someone blindly handed you the opportunity to walk away with close on $400,000 in untraceable cash would you take it even though you knew the money wasn’t yours? No one would find out – or would they?

Could you keep the secret? Could you avoid temptation and not spend the money on clothes and luxury items? Would you pay off your debts and start anew? This is the dilemma married couple Tom and Anna Reed are faced with.

As with No Turning Back, Good People has a moralistic edge to it and we follow the ups and down of two people way out of their depth and everything they do to make things right only compound matters. As a reader you know what they did was wrong and it makes uncomfortable reading for the most part because no matter how hard they fight to keep things a secret, one lie leads to another and before you know it they are well and truly caught in a web of deception.

Their predicament is exacerbated when the bad guys catch up with the good guys and start complicating matters. The great thing here is that you don’t quite know who’s going to come out on top. The police are involved and even the bad guys have bad guys chasing them – it’s a rollercoaster of a journey and one that ties up very nicely indeed, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

I’d compare reading Good People with watching a black and white horror film late at night with the wind blowing a gale outside, the rain lashing against the window and you inside with one hand over your eyes trying not to get sucked in to the terrorising scenes on the tv. It’s impossible not to get drawn in to the storyline of course and once you’ve joined the ride you have to stay on until it ends.

This is the third book I’ve read by Marcus Sakey and although not my favourite (The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes currently my favourite) this is another example of a well-crafted story, strong narrative and characters that make you care. You pull for them from the very beginning. In a book where the bad guys are really bad – ruthless – and the good guys are naïve it will certainly have you turning the page at a rapid pace.

Savvy

I'm not usually a big fan of crime novels; preferring historical fiction, classical literature, and an occasional non-fiction.
I came to GOOD PEOPLE with no expectations, other than a quick skim of the reviews and some personal interaction with the author... So, I really wanted to read one of his novels!

Preferences for genres aside, I'm always intrigued by an author who can spin out an intelligently wrought captivating story!
The artfully talented storyteller is the apex of humankind...the one we want to sit next to around the campfire!

Marcus Sakey is just that kind of minstrel and writes with a sense of tenacious clarity and perceptive psychological insight. The characters are well drawn, believable, and great examples of human frailty as well as innate strengths.

If you found $370,000 and thought that it wouldn't be missed by anyone... much less even known to exist... would you or would you not be tempted to keep it?

Sakey has spun a modern day fairy tale with a moral lesson (of greed and dishonesty) in GOOD PEOPLE! Good people would do the right thing, right?

No spoilers here...suffice it to say that this is a fast paced, suspense laced thriller which held me captive and hopeful for the young couple caught up in something so much bigger than they could ever have imagined in their wildest dreams!

I understand a movie is in the works and Sakey has just published several short stories which I am anxious to download on my Kindle... Short stories are a dying breed... an author has to really sharpen his pen to pack the punch in fewer words!

Ed Armstrong

A debt-ridden couple discover a smoldering fire in the other half of a two-flat they own. While dousing the fire and cleaning up the mess created by their efforts they discover a ton of money that's been hidden in sacks of sugar and flour. They talk themselves into believing their money problems are over and the story details their dream-gone-wrong. A thriller that will hold you in suspense until the very last page.

Sue

Not sure who left this book in my car, I'd avoided reading as the cover clearly made it look like a "Guy's Book". Not true! Full of action, adventure, and crime, true; but also a theme of the committment and the constraints of marriage. A adrenaline rush to read; would love to see it as a movie.

Lois Duncan

I've just discovered Marcus Sakey. What took me so long! He writes just the sort of books that I love, with well-developed characters, a strong plot line, and excellent pacing. After reading GOOD PEOPLE and THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYSE, I can't wait to hit the library and find another one.

Jacob

Good tight action with a strong finish. About two thirds of the way through it you picture how it will end and think you've figured the writer's plot out only to find he really was one step ahead of you.

Sabina

Easy to read, liked the first half (more details and emotions). In general, nothing that would differentiate from the similar stories.

Britt Echols

This was my first Sankey book. I wanted to read authors similar to Blake Crouch and turns out they are friends.
I like the way he writes his characters. Good flow and I feel like I know them all well.
Tom and Anna have issues having a child and become severely in debt. There downstairs tennant dies and they find $370,000. So they don't know what to do. They end up keeping the money and that backfires quickly. The money was stolen during a drug deal with a big movie star. One of the crew members double crosses his crew and kills Jack's (crew leader) brother. This guy rents Tom and Anna's downstairs and dies of an overdose.
So Tom and Anna pay off some debt with the money and then he'll breaks loose. The lead detective thinks they have the money, Jack knows they have then the drug dealer gets involved.
Tom and Anna try to finagle their way out of this and everything goes wrong. The detective also trying to be "greedy" by not telling other cops so he csn be a hero gets killed. Anna's sister gets killed. It was an intense ending. Julian her nephew will be raised by them so they got thier baby but at a big price. They leave the cash to the drug dealer saying it was poison and they didn't want it. Jack.and his side kick Marshall get killed. I saw the movie after HORRIBLE!

Sheri

Good People by Marcus Sakey

Tom and Anna just want a family. They are going in debt trying in-vitro and are about to give up. Then they find their reclusive tenant (down stairs) dead. They also find $400,000.00. That seems to be just what they need. After all who will even know, he was a hermit, no friends, no family. But soon they are about to find (the truth) about their tenet, and soon their life is in danger. And they may have made the biggest mistake of their lives.

A fast pace nail biting thriller, with plenty of suspense and edge-of-your seat moments. Tom and Anna are likable, and I can see how they get themselves in this situation. Wanting a family so bad clouds their judgement. Overall I greatly enjoyed
Good People and feel those who love a great thriller will enjoy it as well.

SLADE

Sakey is one of my favorites. If you haven't read his Brilliance trilogy or Afterlife, then you really should check those out.

This one is a about series of fortunate and unfortunate events that end up tangling the lives of police officers with pop stars with drug dealers with gangsters and regular old good people.

What would you do if you if your tenant died and you found 400K in his apartment?

Well, we know what the Reeds would do. If you want to know, check out this fast paced story and enjoy!

Mark

Fast-paced thriller with married couple finding cash that does not belong to them. Hoodlums will retrieve at all costs, including assault, shooting, and murder. Marriage tested and spouses understanding vows, the hard way. Goodwill and wanting to start family, easily erode with caches of money.
Relentless, book does not pause for characterization nor intermittent reader breaks from suspense. Sometimes, too much is too much.

Clint

Edge-of-the-seat thriller involving a couple with a desire to have a child and a stash of seemingly "free" money. But nothing is ever that easy. Mostly believable story twines around the couple, members of their family, police and two parties who think they have a right to what they think the couple has found. Will they have a happy ever after, or even an ever after?

Lynda

Good characters, good story. I like this author and plan to read more of his books.

Sara Al-Arab

I started reading this book with low expecations , but as i read more i gott really emerged in the storyline, and it has a meaningful ending. A MUST READ BOOK!

Kflo

Really enjoyed this book!

Brett Milam

That dang monkey’s paw. Never mess with the monkey’s paw. In Marcus Sakey’s 2008 novel, Good People, a couple, Tom and Anna, make the fatal (not for them, naturally) mistake of picking up the monkey’s paw thinking it is a glistening jackpot.

The premise of Sakey’s book — a normal couple finds an inordinate amount of cash and decide to keep it leading a series of unfortunate events to occur — reminded me of another book I read recently, Catherine Steadman’s Something in the Water. Unlike Steadman’s, Sakey doesn’t swerve us with one spouse trying sneakily trying to kill the other for the money, although there is some lies early on between Tom and Anna. In Sakey’s book, Tom and Anna go through the wringer together and emerge from the chaos together.

I also have to say, Sakey’s writing style and book, which has a prominent blurb from one of my favorite authors, Dennis Lehane, on the back, actually reminded me more of another favorite author, Harlan Coben. With Coben, I associate bad events happening to “good people.” Sakey’s story, however, arguably, Tom and Anna invited the trouble into their lives.

First, you should know that Tom and Anna are trying to have a baby and going through IVF treatments without much luck. It’s straining their relationship and their bank accounts Second, you should know that four guys rob a rich movie star (who was also partaking in a drug deal), and one of the bad guys turns on the other three, killing the leader’s brother and absconding with the $400,000 they stole. The turncoat then rents out the bottom floor of Tom and Anna’s house. Even before the money situation, it’s rather wild that a “good” couple trying to bring a child into the world would rent a place to someone without referrals or better information on him. Nonetheless, he dies of an overdose and that’s when Tom and Anna discover the $400,000.

Don’t take the money. That’s what good people would actually do, but complicated, flawed people, like Tom and Anna, do take the money initially justifying it as the way out of their financial woes and to a future with a child, i.e., they can also use the money for continued IVF treatments. But the way they act, they’re just enjoying the money. But before long, the leader of the thieves, a ruthless man named Jack, and even the drug dealer, come into Tom and Anna’s lives and events keep unfurling into chaos for them.

In the end, because of them taking the money, two cops are killed, others injured, and worst of all, Anna’s sister is killed by Jack in his effort to recover the money. But, as the monkey’s paw parable would indicate, they got their wish: A child — Sarah’s child — to raise as their own. Their wish for a child just cost them everything material in their lives, their morals, and a loved one of the family. And Sakey added a parallel “good person” who let something else — ambition — crowd his good duty and morals. The initial cop who investigated the turncoat’s death decides to keep everything hidden from his bosses so he can get the glory and promotions, and that essentially cost him his life.

Sure, doing the right thing and being actual “good people” isn’t a panacea against wrongdoing happening to you. Good people die young, of course. But being a good person is about being a good person in and of itself. Alas, if Tom and Anna didn’t take the money, we wouldn’t have much of a book. As it was, I liked Sakey’s book. Very crisp writing, and it stayed away from unnecessary twists and instead, had smart, classic plotting where X bad thing happens to Tom and Anna, and as a reader, you’re wondering how they will get out of it, and then they do, thanks to a nugget of information presented earlier, and then Y happens to them, and so on. That’s good plotting! Tom and Anna are fully-fleshed out characters, and even though I’m frustrated with them for taking the money and digging themselves in deeper, I still cared about their fate. That’s another mark in Sakey’s favor.

If you dig Coben-type books, then you’ll like this one, too.

Realini

Good People, based on the novel by Marcus Sakey
7 out of 10

Good People does not qualify as a memorable, outstanding motion picture, but we could classify it as...

Good Movie

The trio of artists involved in this production is wonderful:

James Franco as Tom Wright
Kate Hudson in the role of Anna Wright, the wife of the protagonist and last but not least, one of the best actors in the world:

Tom Wilkinson as detective John Halden

Anna and Tom have departed from America, where aft the crisis, the landscape architect found himself out of a job.
This they would explain to the investigating detective, perhaps half way through the film.

But in the early stages, they live in the same house with a tenant that dies at the lower floor.
The young couple find a bag with over two hundred thousand pounds...was it 220 k?

They talk about doing the proper thing, reporting it.
But they face tremendous financial pressure.

Indeed, they have just received a warning, an eviction notice and if they do not pay in days, they would loose the house, which seems to have been inherited from a late relative.
Therefore, Tom pays the money to keep the house.

Anna would also spend on a fertility treatment so that she would be able to have a baby.
Detective John Halden arrives on the premises, interested to find out what happened to the dead tenant.

The autopsy indicated an overdose and the man has indeed some ghastly connections.
The investigator asks the young man and his wife about what they do in England, what they know about the late man in their basement.

The couple say nothing about the money, explain that he works in construction and have not noticed anything particular about the dead tenant.
Meanwhile, a gangster is torturing the individual who had recommended the late criminal on his pool table.

The abused victim has to say where this connection has disappeared and where the money is.
After putting a ball into his mouth and tormenting the helpless prisoner, he writes the address and then is killed anyway, with the pool stick pushed down his thought and body.

These vicious thugs would now confront Anna and Tom.
Furthermore, there are two competing mobsters that claim the right to have the bag with cash.

The detective has supervised the transactions made by Tom and he tells the two Good People that they need to cooperate of face prosecution and then jail.
He wants them to work as bait for the criminals, guaranteeing protection.

Evidently, it will not be a cakewalk.
The boss of the detective and presumably others in the reputedly spotless Scotland Yard are in cahoots with the drug dealers and crime lords.

The is an attempt to give the money back to the gangsters and walk free, with the police arresting them.
This first try fails.

Then the criminals resort to kidnapping and a final confrontation would oppose all forces:

Good versus Evil

It is alas implausible that ordinary, Good People would be able to accomplish what we see them do in this action feature.
But, if you assume that these are extreme situations and when pushed to the edge people find incredible resources, maybe you can buy the storyline.

Matt Allen

With Good People, it seems Marcus Sakey is trying to do several things, and he does them quite well. I do wonder though if the well-worn path of the premise keeps Good from being great.

This feels like a character piece. And the characters here are well-drawn. Back stories are not padded with fluff, they're empathetic, the motivations of the characters are rock solid and alive. It is easy to see them as extensions of the page not acting on a plot Sakey is forcing them through but instead as a natural progression for how they've been built for the audience. And yet, mostly in the cases of the two leads, there were holes in my sympathy for them. It admittedly kept my emotional involvement from getting to a place where Good gripped me and wouldn't let go.

This feels like a smart thriller. And it is. The writing is good. Sakey has a way of making his scenes come alive with little chips of sensory cues and prose that gets to the heart of the tension and propels the audience through the plot. Good moves. It's a lean, sharp narrative. Having read Sakey's first two novels, The Blade Itself and Accelerant, I can see him sharpening his tools, getting better with each story. That's exciting. Yet as good as the writing is, there's nothing we haven't seen before in plenty of previous smart thrillers. Good is not breaking new ground--and that's not necessarily a bad thing--but the familiar elements of its premise do keep novelty from feeling like a strength.

This feels like a what-would-you-do exercise. And it's a universal one. Maybe too universal. But spoilers aside, it does feel like the trampled ground it trods is so familiar that, again, novelty suffers. Readers no doubt enjoy putting themselves in the shoes of the protagonists (or even antagonists) of stories, but the what-would-you-dos here seemed so elementary that spending time on it in the plot felt like the only wasted space the novel had.

Good People is good enough that, even while I was enjoying it, I still found myself wondering whether a few different turns would've taken it to higher heights. As is, I still read it quickly and enjoyed my time with it. There's nothing wrong with good fiction. We always need more, and it looks like Sakey is a good place to find it.

Recommended for crime thriller readers, and those who like gritty, tense fictions with characters in impossible situations.

Deyth Banger

"October 24, 2018 –
20.0% "41:19"
October 24, 2018 –
20.0% "Typical Gangster movies!
...

But modern era"
October 24, 2018 –
20.0% "Such killers and criminals is difficult to find nowadays... but this here torture is marvelous."
October 24, 2018 – page 0
0.0% "This book is more likely what I am searching... it starts with a mystery... and now the main characters are facing challenges...

...

Well plotted!
Well Written
Well Presented TV Series"
October 24, 2018 – page 0
0.0% "26:52"
October 24, 2018 – Shelved
October 24, 2018 – Started Reading"

- This work can be for four and half star or something like that... mainly because some things were predictable... but in same time we had chance to face crime, suspense... and little drops of mystery.

I am not a person who brags about stuff... but I have seen works which have been less predictable, always suprising on the road and well written... Stephen King is an example of what I saying!

Hilina

I liked reading it but it lacked interesting twists it felt predictable and too long at times. The writing was good but I just didn’t feel like it reached its highest potential there were some loss ends and unrealistic things but in general it was an okay book nothing to get too excited about but readable nonetheless

Jenn

unimaginative, corny writing with unlikeable characters and gapingly obvious appeals to make the main characters seem relatable. two stars for the couple twists the story does take, subtracting the rest for the predictable nature of literally everything else

Title	:	Good People
Author	:	Marcus Sakey
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0525950842
ISBN-10	:	9780525950844
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	327
Publication	:	First published August 1, 2008
Awards	:	Barry Award Best Thriller (2009)

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