Author: Alan Robertston
ISBN: 8781432727352
Publisher: OutskirtsPress
If you are looking for an off beat hilarious excursion into thriller
land, then pick up a copy of Alan Robertsons debut novel, The Money
Belt. You wont be disappointed. This one is a pretty good romp into the
world of crime with its playful turns of plot and where characters
accidentally become entwined into a mind-boggling plot in Marquette,
Michigan, a tourist town on the shores of Lake Superior.
Author: Alan Robertston
ISBN: 8781432727352
Publisher: OutskirtsPress
If you are looking for an off beat hilarious excursion into thriller
land, then pick up a copy of Alan Robertsons debut novel, The Money
Belt. You wont be disappointed. This one is a pretty good romp into the
world of crime with its playful turns of plot and where characters
accidentally become entwined into a mind-boggling plot in Marquette,
Michigan, a tourist town on the shores of Lake Superior.
The narrative is jump-started when the novels central
character, Willy Salo is dumped by his girlfriend Carmen in favor of an
older financially well off gentleman. Quite peeved at what has
happened, Willy drowns himself in liquor while rationalizing why he was
chucked aside.
Willy is a chap who takes pleasure in dreaming up all kinds of
lame brain moneymaking schemes. One day, while scrimmaging through the
county dump, he discovers an old black money belt lying amid the mounds
of rubbish. Willy brings his prized treasure home and applying his
little knowledge of electronics comes up with a plan to turn the
money-belt into a time bomb where he would place a radio-controlled
bomb in the belt, strap it on someone who had a load of cash, and then
tell him if he doesnt fork over the cash, he will be blown to bits.
Our protagonist is not quite sure how all of this is going to
pan out; however, things begin to take shape when he visits his
favorite bar, the Flat Squirrel. It is here where Willy accidentally
bumps into Carmen and tries to persuade her to leave her husband and
shack up with him. However, Carmen is quite content with her
comfortable life style, that is until Willy says he has something up
his sleeve that will make him rich, and Carmens ears perk up.
Not knowing what Willy has in mind, Carmen blurts out: you are
not going to rob a bank, wherein Willy replies: No hun, Im not going to
do itSomeone else is going to do it for me. Carmen is quite sceptical
after hearing Willys plan and throws at him all kinds of questions,
however, after thinking it over, she agrees to go along with him and
promises to escape with him to a far off island after he becomes rich.
While all of this is transpiring, a banker, Eric Kramer is
just about to enter his car on his way to a banquet held by his bosss
daughter, when he is stopped in his tracks as he helplessly watches his
beautiful car being ruined by a fire. While waiting on the roadside,
one of his employees, Doreen, who incidentally is also a former
girlfriend of Willy, drives by. Kramer asks her where he can find a pay
phone and she tells him she will gladly drive him to the Flat Squirrel
where he can make all of his necessary calls.
It is at the Flat Squirrel where Kramers meets an attractive
blond, Sheila, and where his catastrophic problems begin. Sheila
happens to be the girlfriend of a jealous boyfriend, Moose McCullough,
who is built like a truck. Sheila comes onto Kramer and unfortunately
this leads to a series of unforeseen mishaps where, as Kramer further
on in the story recounts, Things happen out of the blue. Things that
are totally unanticipated. Things that cant be covered by some plan or
insurance policy.
Kramer becomes embroiled in a brawl with Moose, who does not
take too kindly to his messing around with his girlfriend. Badly
beaten, Kramer winds up in a dumpster behind the Flat Squirrel. Willy
and Carmen just happened to be outside of the bar when they witness the
altercation. And what is more, after Carmen realizing that Kramer was
the president of the First Northern National Bank, yells at Willy: hes
the one you want to put the belt on. Think about it! Who better? He can
walk right into the bank, walk right to the vault, grab a couple bags
of money and walk out again without anyone asking a question. Who would
dare? Hes the president of the bank!
From here the plot develops into a rollicking fun tale
mingling witty humor with a heightened sense of the absurd with
consistently on-target punch lines. In addition, Robertson plays it
very close to the chest when it comes to speculating what to expect for
an ending. All in all, The Money Belt is an enjoyable read, although
probably you wouldnt exactly classify it as your usual crime novel, but
then again, who cares? It definitely is a very promising first effort
from a writer who has a talent for story telling and I do hope to hear
more from him.