Windfall A novel of suspense

Wendy Corsi Staub

Book - 2023

"J.J., Molly, and Leila had once been inseparable, but it's been a long time since college, and life--not to mention distance--have disrupted the former roommates' friendship. When the three reunite for a birthday weekend in Las Vegas, the lottery ticket they buy on a whim has the winning numbers--giving them a billion-dollar windfall. Shell-shocked, they turn to Shea Daniels, a "sudden wealth manager," who promises to guide them through the pitfalls of having more money than they'd ever imagined. The trio travels to a secluded California mansion, where Shea and her staff cater to their every whim, promising to teach them to navigate their newfound wealthy lifestyles with ease. The house is luxurious beyond the...ir wildest dreams--and purportedly cursed, the last place a missing movie star was seen alive. Their weekend turns to terror when they discover they are trapped--roads blocked and communication disrupted by the wildfires raging around them. And when history repeats itself and one of them disappears--the one who's holding the billion-dollar ticket--the others must face the fact that either their friend has betrayed them...or a predator is lurking"--

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Subjects
Genres
Thrillers (Fiction)
Psychological fiction
Novels
Published
New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2023]
Language
English
Main Author
Wendy Corsi Staub (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
320 pages ; 21 cm
ISBN
9780063235311
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Leila, Molly, and J.J. are the kind of friends who are always there for one another. Or at least they used to be, when they were college roommates. Now, not so much: they live in different cities, and their lives are no longer intertwined. But all that's about to change. During a weekend getaway in Las Vegas, they bought a lottery ticket, and, miraculously, it's the winning ticket. A billion dollars, split three ways. It's so much money that one of the friends suggests they consult a money manager. Which sounds like a good idea, until the one who happens to be in possession of the billion-dollar ticket disappears. Has she decided to keep all the money for herself? Or is there another, more tragic explanation? Staub (The Other Family, 2022) keeps the reader in a constant state of apprehension. Who is this famous money manager? Could one of them know more than they're letting on? Staub's strength has always been her characters and in this first-rate thriller, she's created some of her best in a story packed with surprises.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Staub (The Other Family) underwhelms in this standalone thriller centered on the fallout from a shared lottery jackpot. Leila, J.J., and Molly, who met as freshmen at Northwestern University and bonded when they learned they all had September birthdays, have all chipped in for a winning billion-dollar lottery ticket. Its spoils offer a new start for the trio, whose post-college lives have fallen short of their aspirations. The friends hire Shea Daniels, a sudden-wealth consultant (whose business is called Windfall), to advise them. Daniels invites them to her home (also called Windfall), the former estate of a two-time Oscar nominee who vanished two decades earlier in a disappearance deemed "Hollywood's most intriguing mystery." Unsurprisingly, the September Girls' stay at Windfall proves hazardous, and the friends fear that one of them may be trying to claim the billion dollars for herself. Genre veterans won't find much surprising here, and cliché-ridden prose ("She ignores him, heading into the house, lugging other people's secrets like an iron chain shackling her to the past") doesn't help. Staub aims for a jackpot, but winds up losing the house. (July)

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