Book Review: Busted Flush

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

Busted Flush     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Brad Smith
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Picador, 2005, 308 pps.

History, humor, fraud and a mix of wonderful characters makes Busted Flush a fast read and a book I would highly recommend.

Dock Bass is disillusioned with his life as a carpenter turned real estate agent and sick of his wife who has turned out to be a vast disappointment. Dock just gets in his pick up and disappears. He winds up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the office of Tommy Trotter, Attorney-At-Law. Trotter had written a letter to Dock and Dock is there to find out why Trotter has contacted him.

Much to his surprise he finds that he has inherited some land and an old farm from a deceased relative he didn’t know existed. He decides he will stay awhile and try to restore the place to its original beauty. When he starts his restoration he discovers a room that has been locked up for years. The contents of the room is full of Civil War memorabilia as well as a diary of a young man that lived on the farm during Lincoln’s time. Dock becomes fascinated by the diary of young Willy Burns and the life he led during the troubled times of the Civil War.

Then we have Amy Morris who is a high profile television personality whose only interest is chasing down a political story but her boss sends her to Gettysburg to obtain a piece of the memorabilia for his own collection. Although disgusted with the assignment she eventually begins to feel the magic of Gettysburg.

Dock soon finds that people from everywhere are interested in his find and some including the local self-proclaimed expert will go to any lengths to get their hands on the memorabilia.

Grab a copy of Busted Flush and I don’t think you will want to stop reading until you reach the end.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM