Ravens by George Dawes Green

Ravens are thought to be scavengers but really they are intelligent creatures who can get animals to do the hard work for them.  Such is the case with the raven characters in George Dawes Green’s book by the same name.

Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko are traveling to Florida for a vacation from their tech support jobs in Piqua, Ohio.  While stopped in Georgia, Shaw overhears the convenience store clerk talk about the identity of the unannounced winner of the 318 million dollar jackpot. 

Shaw gets the idea to hold the Boatwright family hostage in exchange for half of the prize money.  He uses Romeo as a threat to keep them under his control.  Romeo is armed with a map showing the addresses of their friends and relatives.  As the person in Shaw’s life who has always stood by him, Romeo goes along with the role he’s been assigned in this tale.  Romeo and Shaw may be friends but they are made of different stuff.  Romeo has compassion.  Shaw is interested only in what will get him ahead.  The reader can see the differences between them from their actions.

At the news conference to announce the lottery winners, Shaw announces he’s going to give away all of the money.  Lured by his image and his story, people come from miles around to be near Shaw.  They want to meet the man who turned his life around and pledged to do good for others.  Except for the convenience store clerk, no one has a clue that Shaw didn’t spend any money towards the winning lottery ticket.

The Boatwright family (Mitch – father; Patsy – mother; Tara – teenage daughter; and Jase – pre-teen son) deal with the situation in varying ways and go through a gamut of emotions.  Tara is Shaw’s way into family and tries to keep the others level.  Ravens hooks the reader and refuses to let go until the unexpected ending.  It’s true to all of the characters and was satisfying on many levels.