Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Books I've read this week - Breaking the Bank

Breaking the Bank © 2009 by Yona Zeldia McDonough


ISBN: 978-1-4391-0253-4
Publisher: Downtown Press, a division of Simon and Schuster
SRP: $15.00

About the book: “Mia Saul is down on her luck. Dumped by her husband, jettisoned from her job, and estranged from her adored older brother, she and her young daughter, Eden, have had to make a downscale move to a crummy apartment, where their neighbors include a tough young drug dealer and a widower who lets his dogs use the hallways as their own personal litter box. Juggling a series of temporary jobs, wrangling with her ex-husband over child support, and trying to keep pace with Eden’s increasingly erratic behavior have left Mia weary and worn out.

So when a seemingly functional ATM starts handing Mia thousands and thousands of dollars – and not deducting the money from her account, because it sure isn’t in there – she isn’t about to give it back. Her newfound cash stash opens up a world of opportunity, and a whole lot of trouble. Worried friends, family, and in-laws start questioning her judgment about everything, and the cops really, really want to know where all that cash is coming from. And then there’s Patrick, a man Mia most definitely would never have met if things hadn’t spun out of control. Mia is beginning to think that maybe somebody, somewhere, is trying to teach her a lesson about what matters in life, and what doesn’t…”

This was a magical story. Mia’s groceries are stolen and when she goes to the ATM machine to get money to buy more, the machine gives her $200 instead of $100. She just figures it’s a mistake that the bank will catch. When she gets her next statement and the error isn’t there, she decides to go back to the bank and see if the machine will make another ‘mistake’. It does but this time it gives her $1000! Who wouldn’t want an ATM like that! Later the machine gives her even more and tells her to ‘use it well.’ Mia tries but gets into all kinds of trouble. She has to deal with her family, her ex, her boyfriend, her job, her daughter, and the money…it all gets to be too much and she ends up in trouble with the law. How she gets out of her predicament is anything but predictable. Very enjoyable story.

I won this book from Drey’s Library. Thanks Drey!

1 comment:

P.E.Adkins said...

Thanks for the review. I will have to read it--always looking for new books to read.