The New Book Review 2010-02-26 20:11:00

Title: Living the Dream
Author: Tim Baker
Genre: Fiction/Action/Crime
ISBN: 978-160844-087-0

Reviewed by April M. Hanson for Amazon.com


Well-written and gripping novel

All Kurt wants is a break and he can't understand why he can't get one. Deciding to take matters into his own hands he comes up with a plan to kidnap Vicky. He is sure her husband will pay the ransom and then his life will be on the right track, he will be a loser no more. Unfortunately for Kurt, things go from bad to worse as he drives to Florida in what becomes the road trip from hell. Once there, he discovers Vicky is out of town and her husband, Jimmy, doesn't care enough about her to pay a ransom even if Kurt could managed to kidnap her. Just when it seems like Kurt's plan is over, he meets Jimmy's mistress, Leslie, who has some plans of her own and Kurt starts to believe he may finally get to "live the dream".

When I first started to read Living The Dream by Tim Baker, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Three of the main characters have no redeeming qualities and it was hard to care about what happened to them. Then I realized that I didn't have to like them in order to appreciate the story and the imagination that went into the writing. The things that kept happening to Kurt were crazy and creative and I was impressed with how events unfolded in a way that kept me interested despite my lack of empathy for the characters. I eventually found myself turning the pages furiously to see what was going to happen next and, by the end, felt that the book was well written, creative, showed lots of imagination and I would definitely recommend it.
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