Loved this story, well written , interesting and held my attention. Will definitely read authors upcoming books. Highly recommend

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good mystery thriller novel. Recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for sending me the ARC! I didn't know what to expect with this one but it took me for a ride. It was a quick read that keeps your attention. Loved it! I rate it a 4.2

Alex Mahan is in Mexico with his father-in-law as a van pulls up, grabs his FIL, and takes off. This book was a great concept and I loved the story plot (I love books about Mexico/cartels), but the writing was very bland and choppy. There were so many times I wanted to smack some sense into the main character, Alex - could he really be that naive? How was he not connecting the dots? He gets better as the book goes on, and I found myself quickly turning the pages to see what happened next. This book was a nice, quick read and while I liked this book, it wasn’t one of my favorite reads this year, but I am happy I read it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the ACR of this book!

Family Money
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Mystery / Suspense
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 3/1/22
Author: Chad Zunker
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 239
Goodreads Rating: 4.09

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing a copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Alex Mahan is married to his high school sweetheart, Taylor. They have two daughters, a beautiful home, and Alex’s start up is about to implode due to a private funder from his compassionate and supportive father-in-law, Joe. All is perfect until Joe is kidnapped and murdered during a family trip to Mexico. Alex’s world will be turned upside down and can’t bear to tell his grieving wife why. The man they have idolized has hidden secrets. The pledged millions are missing. The source of the original investment is a mystery, even to Joe’s financial advisor. No one seems to know who he really was. As Alex digs deeper into Joe’s life, the most shocking surprises are yet to come.

My Thoughts: The chapters are shorter, which are great for me. The POV is told from one of the MCs, Alex. The narrator was reliable. Some parts seemed slow, fact-building, but necessary to build the story, and create a suspenseful mystery that I really liked. While this is my first from this author, it will not be my last. The characters are well-developed. The story followed in a good pace that kept me engaged. The story open with the plot and then builds the backstory in flashbacks, and continued building suspense. A beautifully written story that I loved.

I've read many books by Chad Zunker and have enjoyed them all. This one was no different. His books are faced pace and easy to read. Great characters that are easy to root for. I highly recommend this book.

Everyone is excited to go on a fantastic trip to Mexico to see the pyramids with the whole family. The two young girls were totally spoiled by their grandfather. Joe is the type of man who couldn’t do enough for his family. He had been a little reticent to go but seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Then the enjoyment of one of the excursions was broken by Joe being abducted by three men! They put a blindfold over his head and pulled him into an old van. He mouthed the words, “Sorry Alex”! But Alex cannot save him and watched as the van disappeared around the corner.

The local police said they could help, but would they? Alex and family waited for a ransom call but none came. The local authorities soon gave up the search and rescue attempts. Alex is on his own to try and recover Joe and began a saga of heroic proportions. He kept his search a secret from his wife and mother-in-law because he didn’t want them to worry.

The story expands into international intrigue and the understanding of who Joe is takes on a whole new character. You will become involved in the seamy side of governments and clandestine operations. Enjoy the adventure and unbelievable lengths Alex employees to protect his remaining family. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

What a brilliant turn of events. From a man grieving the loss of his father-in-law (Joe was also a father figure to Alex) to finding the truth about his father-in-law's past which leads him to an adventure, goodness book was totally an action-filled package!

The character portrayal is excellent and the mystery behind Joe's kidnapping, murder and dark past kept me guessing till the end. I read this book in one sitting - I had to, it was THAT engrossing! I loved the storytelling and the writing. The ending is straight-out-of-an-action movie-like-sequence.

Highly recommended!

TBH, I’d never hear of Chad Zunker before reading Family Money (which I received from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review). He has written a series featuring Sam Callahan and the David Adams legal thriller An Equal Justice, but somehow he was new to me. In Family Money, a man from Texas named Alex Mahan, who is married to his high school sweetheart, Taylor, is vacationing in Mexico. Alex’s software business, hugely financed largely via his father-in-law Joe, is about to become wildly successful, and Alex and Taylor decide to take their two daughters and Joe on a fabulous trip. Everything sems perfect until Joe is abdiucted right before Alex’s eyes and is apparently murdered.
Alex’s discovery that Joe has been keeping secrets, and perhaps lying to them…the money he pledged to help the business is nowhere they can find, and even the source of the original investment is a mystery, even to Joe’s financial adviser. As Alex digs deeper into Joe’s mysterious life, the surprises just keep coming.
The author did a great job writing a complex story, maintaining the mystery, and keeping the plot moving. I was hooked from the start and couldn’t put it down. Four stars.

Great, quick read! I enjoyed this book.
Right from the first page I was pulled in. We open on a family trip to Mexico where Alex watches his father-in-law Joe get abducted across a busy outdoor marketplace. We go along with Alex on his journey to find out what happened to Joe. Told in first person POV from Alex. The chapters are short. There are some quite thrilling moments. We get majority present-day timeline mixed with a few 'background' stories of how Alex and Joe's relationship started and grew over the years of Alex being with Joe's daughter.
I liked the writing. I liked the pacing of the story. I like that we had a reliable narrator. This was a great read for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the READ NOW title on NG to read and review.

I highly recommend this thriller
It was the first time I read a book by this author and I cannot wait to read more books by this author!
The book kept me on the edge of my seat !
The ending has a twist at the end that I did not see coming !
This is a book that you want to read now!

Family Money by Chad Zunker was an underwhelming read. The books writing style, believability (lack thereof) and predicability made this a struggle to reach the finish line. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this copy.

Alex Mahan is married to his high school sweetheart, Taylor. They have two daughters and a beautiful home, and Alex’s startup business is about to explode thanks to massive private funding from his compassionate and supportive father-in-law, Joe. With millions more to come, all is perfect—until Joe is abducted and murdered during a family trip in Mexico.

Chad Zunker is one of my favourite authors, especially his legal thrillers. His books are always fast-paced, thrilling and easy to read. This book was not an exception and I loved it from the beginning to end. If you are looking for a quick and suspenseful read filled with twists then I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to Chad Zunker, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this copy.

This was more like 3-1/2 stars for me. I really liked the storyline but the two major twists were totally predictable and expected. I still got through the book really quickly though. Alex and Taylor are high school sweethearts who are now married with two daughters. They’re very close with Taylor’s parents - Joe and Carol. When they travel to Mexico together, Joe is abducted and killed. Alex learns a lot of things he never knew about his father-in-law after this death. There were just too many clues that made it too easy to figure out the big twists and how this story would end. Thanks to #netgalley and #thomas&mercer for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Always Follow The Money

If you’re looking for a good escape novel, but not one that is too profound, this thriller could be perfect for you.

Alex Mahan, the protagonist and narrator of this novel, is a successful owner of a start-up software company started up with his father-in-law’s money. There lies the clue. Where did his father-in-law, get millions to help them? Alex is married to Taylor, the only child of Carol and Joe. They have two girls, Nicole and Olivia who are provided almost every whim requested.

On a Mexican vacation where they were helping in an orphanage, Joe was suddenly captured by men in a van never to be seen again. Alex was distraught and was told later by the authorities that his father-in-law was killed. They took him to see a burnt, unidentifiable body. He was given Joe’s belt buckle.

Naturally, the family was distraught and grief-stricken. Alex was determined to find the killers, especially when the killing was apparently about money. Alex spent almost every waking moment tracking down Joe’s past and discovering his beloved father-in-law had a different name and history. And the money, well, much of was in an account in the Cayman Islands (what a surprise).

The plot has Alex following every possible lead until he successfully meets up with Joe’s previous wife, Greta, who is CIA. She becomes the heroine of the novel and saves our Joe so he can continue to be the perfect husband, son-in-law, father and grandfather.

It is a decent thriller, no real surprises, a good page turner but nothing too profound. Everyone, except the killers, are rather perfect. Nice guys get killed and it takes some real sleuthing to discover the killer.

This page-turning mystery grabs you on the first page and never lets you go.
Don't start reading unless you are prepared to stay glued to the book, desperate to get to the truth about how many secrets had Joe Dobson kept from his wife and family to protect them.
One of the most enjoyable books that I have read this year.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically. This is a book of mystery and intrigue...murder...who did it? Who can be trusted? Who cannot? Family dynamics...a business...money...charcters who are mostly likable...some not so much...this author has woven an ingenious story...at times, the story moves somewhat slowly, but it is one to be enjoyed...

This book was ok for me. I wished the characters had more individual development. I also thought at times many scenarios and situations were implausible. I also wouldn’t classify this as a “thriller”.

The author has another hit on his hands as he steps away from series novels to an excellent standalone with a determined protagonist. Alex, who along with his wife, daughters, and in-laws, is on a humanitarian trip to Mexico when his father-in-law is kidnapped. Later Alex is called in to identify his father-in-laws remains. Angered and confused he then spends time looking for reasons. He discovers a murky past which leads to an excellent story involving deceptions and coverups galore.

Damn The Late Night Consequences! 😳😯🤯

Woooiiiee! This book cut rut to the chase and started off with a BANG! 💢 This book was an extremely fast read that held my attention, my curiosity & wondering "who" and "what" the entire time. I read this in one sitting - my eyes could barely keep up. & I was not disappointed!
Alex is married to his high school sweetheart, Taylor. They have two girls, Olivia & Nicole. Taylor's parents; Carol & Joe, suggest a trip to Mexico to help out with the orphanages & doing missionary work while vacationing. However, on one of those days, Alex watches his father-in-law be kidnapped right in front of him. Just before all this, thanks to Joe, Alex's start up software business is about to go massive due to his funding for it. Now with this, Alex can't tell Taylor why his & their life is about to be up-ended & what secrets Joe really had. The lies are endless, the deceit unfathomable, & things are only about to get more sinister and dangerous as Alex unearths more and more about Joe.
Wow, what a wild ride! Holy fluff cakes!! The ending was so satisfying and loved how everything made sense in the end.


Thank you to NetGalley & Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.
Release date: March 1, 2022 - Out Now!

I give this 4 / 5 Bouquets! 💐