The Millionaires (2024)

I got the free audiobook of this last week and downloaded it to my iPod for the 20 hour roundtrip we were driving Thanksgiving week. It kept my friends and I awake and alert the whole time, but not for the author's intended reasons. It was like Rocky Horror or MST3K. Never have I had so much fun ripping a book apart.
The good parts: It was pretty well plotted, and the characters were engaging. The author did a good job setting up a situation in which you could cheer for the Robin Hood-like protagonists despite their crime.
The unintentionally hilarious: The characters do some really stupid stuff. The author spends several paragraphs describing the bile in the main character's throat. After ten or twenty (out of 88!) chapters of one first person protagonist, the reader is unexpectedly tossed into another person's head. In the latter half of the book, the perspective rotates between various characters with no real rhyme or reason other than convenience.
The two protagonists, brothers, spend most of the book giving each other meaningful looks. "Buck up, cowboy, and while you're at it, can you make me a corned beef sandwich with mustard on rye" Charlie said to me with his eyes. I got some great mileage out of those expressive eyes. My sisters and I are close, but there's no way they would know my look for mustard from my look for french dressing.
You could also make a great drinking game out of the adverbs: just chug anytime one character speaks, and the other "shoots back" or "blurts". There is a lot of shooting back and blurting. The word "blurt" sounds really funny after nine hours. So yeah, this was a lot of fun to read, but not for the right reasons.

Don’t know how this landed up in the Readers Digest Select Edition. One of the worst books I have read. The plot on the cover was so promising, also the other novels in the edition were excellent. So I started with the hopes that this would also be rated as 5 * like the others .

It turned out to be a major disappointment. Stealing millions seems like a joke.

2 brothers who have never committed a crime become thieves overnight, everything from changing identity, to travelling across the state, flying with a gun hidden seems so easy. They even enter the office of the chairman of a firm and get information on the partners (secret services)! the most hilarious part was when they enter the intranet of Disney world via the internet AND they even get the details of the bank transactions of an employee!!! They also get information on where the backup of the data of Disney is kept by simply asking the support staff. AND they get into the backup facility to steal the tapes (which funnily enough is in the basem*nt of a building in Disney world, so sad they don't even have a separate back office)

Could I get some wine with this cheese? One of the worst books I have ever read. I think the author was eavesdropping on a conversation between 8-year-olds when he constructed the dialogue for this story.

Summary: Two brothers, one an executive at a bank and the other in an entry-level position, hatch a plot to steal three million dollars. Using a sophisticated computer program, they plan to transfer the money into an account only they can access. But after the transaction has been completed, they quickly realize that rather than three million dollars, they stole three hundred million. The secret service are called in to investigate and Charlie and Oliver Caruso soon find themselves on the run not only from the law, but from the people they stole the money from. Using technology to alter their identity and conceal their personal records, the people hunting them down use the same technology to track their whereabouts. It's a high-speed game of cat and mouse, filled with twists and turns that are sure to have readers racing to the last page.

REVIEW: The story itself is intriguing, but somewhere along the lines it became the next big motion picture by Steven Speilberg. You have the romp thru Disneyworld (Orlando, Florida). You have some semblance of real world applications in tracking down the money that was "stolen." The book moves along at a brisk pace, but the book itself is 500 pages long! I also lost myself to numbness with the banter of the two brothers.

Overall Rating: 2.5 stars

Great read. Fun, fast and clever.

The premise of this book is intriguing and indeed the first few chapters fulfilled the promise of an action-packed thriller. However, later chapters strained credibility even for a piece of fiction.

For example in one of the earlier chapters the protagonist Oliver Caruso agrees to go SCUBA diving at night with someone he barely knows into a shipwreck. It strains credibility that two divers, one a novice, with one light between them would go diving at night on a shipwreck. In fact, anyone who has done any diving knows that shipwreck diving is foolish and extremely dangerous at night.
Nevertheless our protagonist, who we are told is fairly smart, is willing to risk his life for nothing more than a little enjoyment and to break out of his old habits. It adds nothing to the story in the long run and could easily have been modified to make it more realistic.

Another example occurs at Disney World when the protagonist, his brother and a few others are engaged in a raging gun battle in a warehouse on the park property. It again strains credibility to believe that security personnel in Disney World would allow such gunplay to continue for as long as this battle occurred without intervening. While the Disney World location adds some interesting color, the segment not only strains credibility but is predictable.

Yes, there are some interesting twists in the plot, but the unrealistic characteristics detract from them in a major way.

When it comes to characters caught in odd situations with bad guys in hot pursuit of some big secret, Brad Meltzer has proved himself to be an expert.

This time, two brothers embezzle three million bucks from a "dead" bank account, only to discover the next morning that it has turned into three hundred million bucks. Now the bank management, the secret service, etc. want that money back. The brothers rush to find out what happened in hopes of finding a way out of their problem-- only to uncover a deeper and darker mystery hiding beneath the surface.

Meltzer creates characters that are uniquely clever and tough, but with their own foibles. For example, one of the young brothers is supposed to be on medication for his heart, which give the character a touch of depth as well as helps thicken the plot.

This was another great read by Meltzer that kept me up at night, reading and turning pages.

This gets a 2.3 from me. Let me explain.
I enjoyed reading it. I flew through it thanks to the fast pace. If it ever slowed down, I may have given up on it, but it never did. There was a twist in the last 80 pages that I actually didn't see coming. But man, this isn't my type of book. It was a super easy read and didn't provoke any thought really. The writing was very simple. I think they call these books fluff books. That hurts my rating. Also, I found the book to be the equivalent of a popcorn flick or a network TV action drama show...the story is cliche through to the end and there is some corny, quirky dialogue sprinkled in to add a bit of comedy along the way just like network TV shows. I DISLIKE network TV because of the cliche stories and dialogue, so naturally I did not like that about this book. But....I read it all and I did have a hard time putting it down because of the pace. The pace and the short chapters got it the 2.3 stars.

This one was pretty much just what it promised. An easy, entertaining, quick read.

The author seemed to try way too hard to be witty, and the end was (not the reveal, which kind of surprised me. I thought it would be the Quincy fellow.) but the come down after the reveal. It was stupid.

The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer follows two young brothers, Oliver, and Charlie, as they are struggling their way through young-adulthood. They both work at a prestigious bank, and when an opportunity for a "victimless crime" appears, they jump on the opportunity to steal three million dollars. But when that three million turns into three hundred thirteen million, they are suddenly on the run trying to figure out WHY it is that much, and WHO is after them. While I was able to guess the big twist (but how... I'm not quite sure), this book had me second-guessing everyone and everything that I knew, and kept me in suspense until the last page. It even had an ending that, while not the "typical" happy ending, was still very satisfying. I was happy to have read this, and look forward to reading more by Meltzer.

This was a fun and easy book to read. Oliver and his brother, Charlie work at an exclusive bank and are tempted to "take" unclaimed money before it is turned over to the state. But they were unaware that they were being watched and others knew what they did. The brothers go on the run, and there is much more to this bank account than they ever imagined. The bank's head of security and even the Secret Service are involved, but Oliver and Charlie do not know who to trust. I loved the prominent Disney World component! This is a fast paced book with twists that suprised me. I enjoyed it.

This book was amazing! I am a HUGE Disney fan, so the fact that Disney World was an integral part of this book made it all the better. During the subway fight and the fight in the Disney costume closet I could actually feel my heart racing! I would highly recommend this book!

I have read other books by Brad Meltzer and have enjoyed them all. This one was no exception. It held my interest and had a few twists and turns I didn't see coming. Some of the dialogue felt a little forced, but you did feel as if you knew the characters.

New author for me and I was not sure from the start of the story. But it quickly turned to unexpected twists. Enjoyed the book overall very much. While the brothers bickering got old fast, the humor at the end made me laugh out loud as by then their characters were well understand and played.

Scott Brick continues to lead me to new books as I seek out what he is narrated. This book was a win for performance and story.

If I had a choice of 3.5 stars I would have chosen it. Meltzer is a great author of turn page mysteries. I always learn a lot and his books are all well researched. Millionaires met all my criteria for a good mystery, but sometimes the plot became too unbelievable and the end was just too PC.

A clever plot, great characters, and some fantastic twists that kept spinning in different directions right up until the end. I really enjoyed the book.

The book The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer is a story about two brothers. One brother is Charlie Caruso, who is a low level employee at the exclusive bank Greene & Greene. The other brother is Oliver Caruso, who is the youngest associate at the entire bank. Charlie and Oliver soon begin planning the perfect crime. The bank at which they work, Greene & Greene, is so private and exclusive that a customer needs two million dollars to simply create an account. However, when they realize that the path they are on does not lead to success, they decide to make a life changing decision. Three million dollars in an abandoned account is just calling their names, begging to be taken. Nobody at the bank is aware that the funds exist, and if Oliver and Charlie do not take the money then the funds will just be transferred to the state of New York. The crime is foolproof. With three million dollars they could even begin to pay all of their bills and then become completely out of debt. After their father walked out on them and their mother, he left them with a lot of bills to pay, on top of bills that they were already obligated to pay.

After they hesitantly go through with the crime and steal the money, their lives instantly turn to chaos. Before they can even make sense of what is going on their friend is brutally murdered. All of a sudden the bank, Secret Service, and a female private investigator are closing in on them. What invisible alarms were attached to that account? How are the two brothers going to prove that they are innocent? Why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a fast paced race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

This book is a well written mystery novel because it keeps the reader on edge and is constantly surprising the reader. As soon as the reader is introduced to the bank robbery plot, the whole book changes themes. In the book before the bank robbery all that is described is the normal life of employees who work for an exclusive bank. However as soon as they steal the money the whole theme becomes one of mystery and drama. Before the robbery Oliver is a careful guy who hates to break the rules, but after the robbery his character changes. Oliver’s character then changes to somebody who is always alert, worried, and most of all reliant on his brother. They are both in this mess and both have to find a way to get out of it. Before the robbery Oliver did not really have to rely on his brother for anything other than being family. Now they are relying on each other to stay alive. This book was very enjoyable to read because it has the perfect blend of mystery and suspense. It is also enjoyable because the whole story is something that could actually happen and the author is showing that the economy is rough now and some people who have always been good citizens turn to crime. In short this was a fantastic book to read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading mystery and suspenseful books.

It has been a long time since I read anything from Brad Meltzer, “The Tenth Justice.” I guess because, according to my notes, I didn’t think it was very good and so I didn’t have very high hopes for “The Millionaires.” But I’ve been trying to make room on the bookshelves and came across a paperback copy of this and thought I’d give it a go. It was actually, for the most part a pretty enjoyable story and really well paced and I was pretty much set to give it four stars. But I thought it really fell apart at the end and then the more I thought about various aspects of the book the less inclined I was to give it the four. One reason in particular was the main technology story introduced midway through the book. For me it was just one step too far. Meltzer didn’t need anything so complicated to make the whole storyline work. And then there were other spots here and there along the way where I said to myself, “Really? That wouldn’t (or couldn’t) happen like that.” And then the wrap up was just, well, a little bit goofy for me and so I decided to go with three instead of four stars. It wasn’t that it was a bad read by any means, it’s just that there’s so many other better books out there.

Downloaded from Audible.com

Narrator: Scott Brick
Publisher: Hachette Audio, 2002
Length: 14 hours 45 min.

Publisher's Summary

What would you steal if you couldn't get caught?

It started as the perfect crime. Then it took a turn for the worse.

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they're faced with an offer they can't refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn't belong to anyone.

It's a foolproof crime. More important, for Charlie and Oliver, it's a way out of debt and the key to a new life. All they have to do is take the money.

But when they do, they quickly discover they've got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead - and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in.

Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

This was a fun little read about a pair of brothers who try to rob the bank they work in. The plan is a simple one. Take a “dead account” and set it up to be transferred to an account they chose. The only problem is the other person trying to steal the money.

I haven’t read fiction in a while, and this was a nice return. I actually read this book by listening to it on my ipod. I forget how I got the audio book, but I do remember it being free. It was a neat experience there was one reader, but he did make slightly different voices for the various characters. It was kind of like listening to an old radio show and seeing all the players in my mind.

The story was well developed and had a couple of subplots that were important to the overall story. The final twist at the end was only somewhat of a surprise. The one thing that was really nice, was that nothing was too far fetched, unless it was supposed to be so in the book.

Now this is one of those books that flow at a very great pace, I read this in 2 days and actually wanted some more once i finished the last page.

The whole premise is a bit sketchy, if stealing millions of dollars was as easy as the book wants you to believe, then the economy would probably collapse. Still, it makes for a great story and a very entertaining adventure.

I would have loved for the characters to be a bit older and more mature, it would have been a bit more credible that way. And it would also have helped if the story wasn't so predictable, I mean come on! who didn´t know who the bad guy was form the get go?

I first read a Meltzer book a few months ago (The Book of Lies) and it sucked... This one was way better and infinitely more entertaining, I might give more of his books a chance just to get a grasp on his overall style. Who knows? there might be more books from him I find enjoyable.

Two brothers one in an executive position at a bank and the
other at entry level discover a way to steal three million
dollars. They plan to transfer the money to an account only
they can access. After it goes through they discover that
they now have three hundred million dollars not three million.
The secret service is called in and they find themselves running
not only from the law but the people they stole the money from.
Then they use some modern technology to alter their identity and
personal records but the people hunting them use the same thing
to find them. This is a high speed game of cat and mouse filled
with twists and turns. This novel has a pretty good story but
could use a little more action.

I actually liked Brad Melters books. But this one hit bottom, I couldn't even finish it. It was like Bevis and Butthead steal 3 million dollars. The dialogue was ridiculous: Wiping the sweat back from my dark brown hair, I push the button anyway. Who talks like that? The wise crack metaphors were annoying and non-stop. These are suppose to be intelligent people employed by an exclusive banking institution. There are books where you root for there bad guys, because you feel sympathetic. There was an attempt to make them more like Robin Hoods of the Bronx e.g. mothers numerous hospital bills, deceased father left them in debt, mother loses her job, terrible boss etc, But they were so unlikeable I didn't care!

Uugh, this book had me stressed out for days! It's completely not the kind of book I would typically read, but come on...how can you argue against a novel with a chase scene through the underbelly of Disney World?? In all seriousness, though, you can really relate to the two brothers in this story. I'd definitely reccmnd. it.

What would you do if you found an inactive account worth 3 million dollars and if not claimed, you have to turn it over to the State?
Well the Millionaires by Brad Meltzer sends us on a journey of 2 bank workers who takes advantage of this opportunity.
Isn’t one of the most perfect crime’s the one that’s not even known to exist.
This was a fast paced, hair raising book.

This was another brilliant book by Brad Meltzer. I was able to empathize with the brothers and the situation they were in. The entire story moves along smoothly and is very enjoyable to read.

This is a thriller that is worth reading.

I got a SCRIBD membership that gives me access to a bunch of audiobooks. I picked this one as as easy listen while doing chores. I don't think I would taken the time to pick it up and read it. As an audiobook it was at least worth listening to the end. I think Meltzer has written better stories.

This book is horrible. I'm not even finishing it. Main pet peeve: The dialogue is atrocious.

Saw this one listed on the best seller list and gave it a try. A very good and interesting mystery/thriller that kept my attention from start to finish. Well worth the read.

Fun. Also? Brad Meltzer is one of the writers for the Buffy Season 8 comics.