The Money Club by Fiona Lowe

Publisher's Synopsis

Izzy Harrington's fiance is a successful entrepreneur and everyone's friend, but today she's waiting for him to get home so she can tell him they're over. Except Brad never arrives.

Instead, three angry men knock on the door and insist on talking to Brad. When the police arrive asking difficult questions and demanding to see his passport, Izzy's packed suitcases suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Brad's disappearance sends ripples through their small town and a furious mob camps on Izzy's lawn desperate to recover their losses. They have Izzy in their crosshairs, determined to make her pay for Brad's audacious con.

As the search intensifies, conflicting clues emerge. Clues that suggest no one really knew Brad - least of all Izzy ...

My Review of The Money Club by Fiona Lowe

Ponzi scheme anyone?

Brad Quinn is a high flying businessman with a sure fire, can’t miss system that involves betting on racehorses to return astounding profits for himself and his investors. (Perhaps my simple summary of the scheme makes it sound dodgy - but that’s only because it is!) Somehow, he has sold it as an investment plan and managed to get people to believe him. Drawn into the scheme are friends and neighbours who are all lured by the promise of high yield dividends that just keep getting better and better.

When Brad suddenly disappears one day, along with $23 million of investor’s money, the police, along with a few irate investors show up at the front door of Brad and Izzy. For her part Izzy Harrington, Brad’s fiancee, is completely taken by surprise unaware that Brad wasn’t contactable, even more put off because she was planning on walking out on him anyway.

The fallout from the fraud is devastating with the lives of half the town of Glingilly thrown into utter turmoil. In particular, the spotlight shines on Brad, the entrepreneur / mover / shaker behind Elite, his fiancee Izzy, Brad’s parents Judy and Bevan, their good friends Birdie and Mike Essen and their son and daughter-in-law Jack and Lucy. They’re all heavily invested in the scheme both financially and emotionally.

Financial ruin is going to create all sorts of stress on familial relationships and that’s what plays out in vivid detail. Retirement plans are shattered, mortgage repayments are defaulted, homes are foreclosed and police are picking through lives. Not only that, Izzy has been left high and dry to deal with reporters at the door and the rest of the town ridiculing her and demanding the return of their money.

A great deal of the story involves the wronged group all going through their own version of dealing with the 5 stages of grief. We quickly cycle through denial before getting to the anger and bargaining part of the process. This is a particularly spicy section that is unsurprisingly emotional as bridges appear to be burned big time. But it’s only when we reach the depression and acceptance side of things that we see some serious character growth and the respective relationships really begin to develop. 

We’re witnessing people at their lowest ebb. They’ve lost their life savings, some their houses and are faced with the prospect of having to start all over again just to scrape by. Meanwhile they’re forced to live together or in barely habitable conditions, having to learn to tolerate each other’s foibles or annoying little idiosyncrasies. Fiona Lowe captures the anger, despair and loneliness incredibly well inviting each of us to put ourselves in this unthinkable position.

That being said, from the fraudster to the victims, there are some major character flaws to deal with here - and that’s before they became aware that their “investments” were part of a scam. It’s unusual for me to read a book in which I didn’t like any of the characters but, apart from one or two moments of sanity, that’s the case here. Everyone involved in investing in Elite and Fortune are unlikable people. It made it quite difficult to feel sympathy for them.

The Money Club uses a crime as an ignition point but it’s more a survival story that can serve as a warning about get rich quick schemes and the dangers of allowing greed to overshadow common sense.