It’s been some time since I read a novel from one of my all-time favorite authors, Eric Jerome Dickey. So while perusing my bookshelves, I grabbed Tempted by Trouble to get my EJD reader fix. Yes, I did say fix – lol.
Anyway, this novel delivered everything I was looking for…a storyline with the right amount of thrill, suspense, and sexiness. I met Dmytryk Knight from Detroit, a man who was on track with the American dream: college educated, married to a beautiful woman, nice job, and a home. Who could ask for anything more?
Well, when he and Cora, his wife both lost their jobs and their home in foreclosure, their backs are pressed against the wall. Neither of them is happy barely scraping by with several jobs between them (delivering pizza, tutoring, exotic dancing, etc.) until Cora introduces Eddie Coyle, a criminal into the picture who needs a wheelman for bank robberies.
Dmytryk thought it over and with the promise of a job two minutes in and out of the “bank withdrawal business” and a pay day…this was his break. So, he teams up with the crew: Rick, Sammy, and Jackie. And right after doing a job in Texas, Cora disappears.
For six months, Dmytryk searched for her until one day she walked back into his life, on the arms of Eddie Coyle and now the mastermind behind the biggest job that would net them a huge sum of money (robbing a megachurch - Six Flags over Jesus). The Cora that stood face-to-face with Dmytryk was a changed and dangerous woman, not the sweet woman he married.
What transpires next is a series of events filled with greed, desperation, double-cross, jealously, and rage that EJD wonderfully weaved with flashbacks and in present time in the lives of all the players. While reading I asked myself, how far would I go for love? Not that damn far!
Loved this thrill ride! Yes, EJD you ROCK! And yes, I’m excited to read the fifth installment of the Gideon series!
Some of my favorite lines:
“You’ve killed and robbed like everyone else, and now you want to take the high road?”
“The money stays.”
“If the money stays, how long do you think we’ll last?” Until we get to Nashville? We wouldn’t last until Nashville, Dmytryk. We wouldn’t last three hours. I left Detroit because of friggin’ money issues and I’m not going to go back there as broke as when I left. I didn’t grow up like you, Dmytryk. I grew up broke. My father died broke and my mother struggled until she died. I’m not going to live that life. Maybe if there was some guarantee that this would end, but it’s only getting worse. There is no end in sight.”
“The money stays.”
“And if I did make it back to Detroit, if I left with you, if I made love to you every night, if we went back to that same routine, if I cooked for you while you cut the yard, at some point, I’d hate myself for being so weak for you, I’d hate how much you love me, and I would poison you. I’d think about this moment, and I’d kill you and bury you with your other secret. The one that you and Eddie Coyle left by the Uniroyal tire. Dmytryk, it’s us and the money or there is no us.”
“I’m in this because of you.”
“You made your own choices, Dmytryk.”
Rating: 5 Stars
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