Caribbean Layoff by C Michael Lance

Caribbean Layoff doesn’t have the most original premise, but what it lacks in originality it more than makes up for in execution. Steve Henning comes across a wrecked vehicle with a dead drug cartel member and $30 million. Instead of reporting the money to the authorities, he decides to take it. He and his wife then embark on an adventure to the Caribbean in an attempt to park the money offshore while being pursued by a Mexican drug cartel.



The idea of finding lost money from gangsters may not be new but I loved the way the author went about crafting this novel. You can tell he painstakingly thought it all through of exactly what you would have to do to tuck this money safely away. Adding the complication of the drug cartel hunting them down added an extra layer of intrigue. As I was reading the novel, I kept on thinking about what I would do if I were in that situation. Although I didn’t agree with everything that Steve and his wife did, I saw the logic behind it.



The novel was intelligent, well thought out, well written, and fun to read. It was a bit more light-hearted than I would have expected, and I think there were spots where the tension could have been ramped up a bit, or at least the attitude of the characters could have been a little less flippant, but the novel delivered in its intended effect. This was a fun read that I think readers will enjoy regardless of their genre of preference.