Boston PI Spenser and right-hand man Hawk join forces to track down an unscrupulous businessman who systematically fleeces unsuspecting investors—leaving financial destruction and broken lives in his wake.
Nick and Laurie Kostas are a hardworking couple from Saugus, Massachusetts. They made their millions the old-fashioned way—they earned it. After deciding to retire early and selling off their snow-removal business to a competitor, the couple believe they’re headed to sunny Florida and a life of ease. But not before a friend introduces them to a money manager, a man who’s described as a financial wizard who won’t only keep their cash safe but will put it to work and earn big.
M. Brooks Wells’s résumé is impressive: a masters in tax law from Harvard, experience as an officer for the CIA, and a long list of celebrity clients including movie stars and famous athletes. There’s only one problem: he soon disappears, along with the couple’s ten million.
Enter Spenser, who quickly discovers that everything about Wells is phony. His name, his résumé, and his client list are nothing but an elaborate fraud. Following a trail from Boston to Atlanta, Spenser tracks the man and his less impressive identity and a growing list of victims connected to a Georgia megachurch. It turns out Wells has close ties to the church and one of its prominent members, the founder of a shadowy paramilitary contracting company. It will take Spenser and a few of his go-to gunmen—Hawk, Vinnie Morris, and Teddy Sapp—to untangle the financial web, fight the contractors, and get to the truth.
