The Ticket
by Fred Shackelford
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Pub Date Oct 20 2018 | Archive Date Apr 10 2020
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Description
The Ticket is the story of a frantic and perilous search for a missing lottery ticket worth $241 million. The lives of a corrupt gambler, a retired detective, and a woman in hiding intersect as the ticket is about to expire.
Channing Booker, a compulsive gambler, drug abuser, and philanderer whose marriage is failing, finally gets lucky and wins the Mega Millions lottery. Expecting an imminent divorce, and hoping to hide his new fortune from his wife Susan, Channing devises a scheme to have a friend claim the $241-million jackpot and secretly return the money to Channing after the divorce is final. But Susan flees with all of her possessions, including the rare book in which Channing hid the winning lottery ticket. With time running out before the lottery ticket expires, Channing launches a desperate search to find Susan, but she’s covered her tracks well, fearing his retribution. In need of money to fund her furtive new lifestyle, Susan begins selling off her worldly goods, including her rare books, unleashing a chain of events that puts not only her life in danger, but that of her new love as well…
Advance Praise
"Threaded within the plot twists are other stories of secondary characters, some hapless, some heroic, that in the end knit together to create a terrific, satisfying read." - Publisher's Weekly
"I know it is a reviewer's cliché, but The Ticket is a page turner. Once I began reading, I couldn't put it down until I learned the fate of 2, 6, 9, 17, 55, 12. Economists are not great forecasters, but I predict that readers of Shackelford's first novel will demand that he supply more titles in the future." Kenneth G. Elzinga: aka Marshall Jevons, author of the Henry Spearman mystery novels and Mystery Writers of America Edgar judge for the Best Mystery Novel of the Year
"The hunt for the lost lottery ticket is exciting, dangerous, and fun. Fred Shackelford juggles a cast of characters who are resourceful, driven, complex, potentially lethal, and always entertaining. The villain, Channing Booker - the name is a great pun -- is both amusing and frightening in his evil ways. The author works insights about the law into the quick moving plot, and he keeps readers tense about impending dangers. For fans of thrillers and of le-gal novels, Fred Shackelford artfully marries both genres in this superb début." John Jebb, author of True Crime: Virginia
"The Ticket takes you into the mind of a true sleazebag. Channing Booker wins a jackpot lottery ticket one day and loses it the next. This blunder sets off a captivating chase, keeping the reader guessing at every turn. Fred Shackelford, the author and a keen legal mind himself, weaves obstacles throughout, confronting his protagonist with colorful characters who thwart Channing's progress and confound his oily maneuvers. Channing is a jerk, no doubt; so why do we keep hoping he'll win? Maybe, we want a sequel! Beware! The cunning suspense herein will disrupt your sleep. A breathless read! Janet Martin, author of The Christmas Swap
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781626945708 |
| PRICE | |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
mary p, Reviewer
I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well developed. It had an interesting plot. I would be interested in reading more. excellent plot.
Reviewer 117626
The subtitle of this DEBUT novel should be "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
In this comedy of errors, Channing Booker, attorney at law, in a loveless marriage, hopeless gambler, finds to his shock that he holds the winning ticket for the Mega Millions lottery. Jackpot worth approximately $241 million. His mind begins to work overtime.
He's been thinking about a divorce for a while; why not now? Then he won't have to split his winnings with his wife Susan. And so begins the series of misadventures. He hides the ticket in a book at his house; the next day, he comes home from work to find his wife gone and house empty, including the book with the lottery ticket in it. We are introduced to other players, including some pretty shifty characters. Billy runs a pawn shop; Winston DeHart is a junior associate at the law firm; Lee buys on EBay, where Susan is selling some of her stuff; Boz Dunlap, whose job at the law firm seems to encompass sitting in his chair and shuffling papers; Sully Pendleton, local attorney.
A truly delicious novel that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
I read this EARC courtesy of Black Opal Books and Net Galley 10/20/20
Catlin P, Reviewer
A winning lottery ticket is the central theme of this book. The purchaser wants to hide the winnings from his wife, but she surprises him by moving out and unwittingly taking the ticket with her! The rest of the book entails his search for his wife and the ticket, along with the eventual involvement of a third party. I enjoyed the fast pace and characters in this book (the male lead is a real sleaze-bag!) I was a bit disappointed in the resolution, though it sort of makes me wonder if there's a sequel coming that will finish the tale. Still, a good read!
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