Click Here To Purchase Another Man's Treasure

Author: James V. O'Connor

ISBN: 978-0-61551652-3

Publisher: Post Mortem Press

Our protagonist Ted McCormick has recently moved from Chicago to Albany where he has started a home organizing company. In Chicago he was employed as a stockbroker and, as we later discover, had to leave his former employ due to some very costly decisions involving recommendations he made to his clients. As Ted is on his way to a potential new client who owns a rambling Queen Anne house, he begins to reminisce about the recent meeting he had with another client, Janet Blake. Ted describes Janet as having a “lively personality and girlish spirit that was whittling away his sense of propriety, even though he always kept his distance from women clients, maintaining a businesslike relationship.” Nonetheless, he could not stop himself from thinking about their brief incident in her walk-in-closet.

Upon reaching the Queen Anne house, Ted is greeted by a difficult and stern Mr. Smith who informs him that his deceased father had been the owner of the house and that he was recently killed in a motorcycle accident with his fourth wife. He further explains to Ted that he needs to empty the house and that most items of value will be auctioned off. However, he has reason to believe that somewhere within the crumbling ruin, and perhaps in several locations, something of great value has been hidden away by his eccentric father. Ted has now the two fold job, empty the house and find the hidden treasure, if one actually exists. Little does Ted and his assistants imagine that the search for a possible treasure would entail a maze of doors and passages, strange ghost-like sounds, a torture chamber, trap doors, unusual trinkets, and other peculiar findings that would send a shiver down anyone's spine. What Ted eventually finds was something that was not anticipated- an attestation to the late Mr .Smith's benevolence and kindness towards those who were less fortunate.

At the same time Ted agrees to Mr. Smith's assignment, he continues to accept odd jobs from Janet, and every time he meets with her, there is a kind of romantic tension between the two as a result of her bold flirtations. There also seems to be an inability to separate his growing feelings for Janet,  however, as Ted is faithful to his wife Mary, he would never betray her and enter into an adulterous affair with Janet, even though his marriage is not exactly perfect. Mary is the main breadwinner in the household and she is not overly supportive of Ted's new home organizing business, particularly that they had to move away from Chicago where Ted's days as a stock broker came to an abrupt end. Ted also appears to be somewhat afraid of Mary who at times comes off as a trifle frosty and jealous of his women clients.

Another Man's Treasure is an irresistible and deliciously satisfying read with writing that is energetic and fun where two plots are woven together like a braid.  You can easily get caught up in reading it on a bus or subway on your way home from work and keep reading it until you turned your lights off at night. O'Connor's deft touch in creating characters remain with the reader long after the novel has been read. In addition, he also has an uncanny ability to maintain readers' interest without letting up, particularly with his chilling compelling scenes in the Queen Anne house as well as the daring bantering between Janet and Ted. And not to be left out is the surprising twists that occur during the last few chapters that frankly threw me for a loop, as there was nothing in the plot that remotely prepared me for the unexpected ending.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With James V. O'Connor

Click Here To Purchase Another Man's Treasure