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The Color of Greed

(Raja Williams #1)

Jack Thompson (Goodreads Author)

3.75 · Rating details · 272 ratings · 41 reviews

What do a private detective, a hacker and an assassin have in common? The desire to help when justice needs a hand.

Neither the dark, tragic anti-hero nor the James Bond super-hero type, Raja is a wealthy Oxford-educated PI of mixed Caribbean descent who possesses a strong empathic power and a sixth sense for evil that gives him headaches and steers him straight into troub ...more

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ebook, 185 pages

Published July 24th 2012 by Crackerjack Publishing (first published July 23rd 2012)

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· 272 ratings · 41 reviews

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Dec 29, 2016 Tulay rated it liked it · review of another edition

Enjoyed reading this book.

Like spending time with these characters, thrill, mystery, suspense and humor are all in this book. Rich PI always wants to help people with his talented hacker, all the technology on her fingertips. Kept me guessing all the way to the last chapter. 15 rules Raja uses should be practiced by everyone.

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Aug 27, 2012 Mandy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-books, favorites, fiction, first-in-series, rd-reviews, read-2012, read2review

I received this book in return for a honest review from the author Jack Thompson. The book is about Raja Williams a private investigator who doesn't charge his clients but asks them to pay it forward. He has his own private plane, drives Ferrari's and has a partner who is one of the best hackers out there who happens to look like a super model.

Raja gets called to L.A. to find out what happened to a grieving widow's younger husband who's murdered on his yacht. Once he starts to unravel the murde ...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Reading Reindeer 2021 On Proxima Centauri rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Reading Reindeer 2021 On Proxima Centauri by: Jack Thompson

Shelves: september-2012-reads

Review of The Color of Greed
Raja Williams is not the routine private investigator. Of Caribbean background, he is very wealthy, yet unassuming, an individual of real moral integrity and backbone. His business partner Vinny is a former hacker-turned NSA employee-turned hacker again, who can make any computer or database tap dance on the head of a pin, and find out anything there is to be known. The two of them function well as individuals, but as a team are unbeatable; and Raja has other “team me ...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Nancy Silk rated it it was amazing

This is the first detective story I've read by Jack Thompson. It reminds me of the old time radio shows where the private detective comes to the aid of a woman; in this case, a recent widow. The author doesn't waste any words and neither does a good detective put his feet up on his desk. It's time for action, and that is what the novel offers. Detective Raja Williams speeds to the west coast at the call of new client, Clarice Hope. Her husband, Randy, had been found dead on the topside of his ya ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Critique de Book rated it it was amazing

What I liked: “Wow” is all I can say. The name of this book fits perfectly - it was a story about greed – greed – greed. I loved the characters. They came alive for me, most especially Raja and Vinny. Their struggles touched me. The story flowed easily – like water - and was so riveting that I was unable to put it down. I read to escape, and this book was packed full of everything you would expect a mystery to be and then some more. A great read and look forward to reading more.

What I didn’t li ...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Shirley rated it it was amazing

I love a good mystery that features a lead character that has an attitude and this one fits the profile. Another character type I like is the computer" geek"and ergo this book has met two of my favorite prerequisites. Looking forward to reading more from this author ...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Mike French rated it really liked it

A very enjoyable page turner! I am looking to the next Raja Williams book.

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Mar 17, 2013 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult-books, read-in-2013

When private investigator Raja Williams receives a call from Clarice Hope, who insists that her husband Randy was murdered, he decides to fly out to California and take on the case. The police declared Randy's death an accident, but it doesn't take long for Raja to believe that he was indeed murdered. With help from his partner and hacker, Vinny, Raja works to uncover what really happened.

The Color of Greed by Jack Thompson is a fun mystery with an old-fashioned feel to it. It reminded me of the ...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Sharon Michael rated it liked it

With a bit of an old-fashioned tone to the storyline. The very rich, well-dressed main character reminded me vaguely of an early favorite of mine, Del Shannon's LAPD Lt. Mendoza, updated in this case by a quirky hacker partner.

Standard plotline, with private detective coming to the aid of a distressed widow. The political situation, which has apparently triggered a series of murders, brings this mystery into a very modern storyline. Interesting twists make this an entertaining, quick read.

My onl ...more

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May 02, 2013 Joyce rated it really liked it

Great plot and fast paced. My only dislike was that there wee times when no explanations were given for deductions that were made. The characters were interesting and the reader will want to know more about them. All in all, I will look for more Raja Williams novels.

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Nov 22, 2016 dennis l mcnett rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Good Read

This was a story that fit my interest to a t. Kept me waiting for the the next page with excitement

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Nov 10, 2017 Silver Screen Videos rated it it was ok · review of another edition

NOTE: The author graciously gave me a copy of this book and asked me to write a review.

The independently wealthy private detective is a time honored character in mysteries, dating back to the days of Lord Peter Wimsey and Nick and Nora Charles. Author Jack Thompson carries that concept forward into the 21st century in The Color of Greed. Thompson's detective, Raja Williams, is the heir to a liquor fortune and probably has a net worth that would exceed that of Wimsey and the Charleses combined. W NOTE: The author graciously gave me a copy of this book and asked me to write a review.

The independently wealthy private detective is a time honored character in mysteries, dating back to the days of Lord Peter Wimsey and Nick and Nora Charles. Author Jack Thompson carries that concept forward into the 21st century in The Color of Greed. Thompson's detective, Raja Williams, is the heir to a liquor fortune and probably has a net worth that would exceed that of Wimsey and the Charleses combined. What he doesn't have, unfortunately, are any discernable detective skills, nor does author Thompson have the ability to turn a potentially good storyline into a compelling mystery.

Williams isn’t in detective work for the money; instead, he’s a sort of Don Quixote, taking on cases where he feels his talents can serve justice by solving crimes that stump the police. In The Color of Greed, he investigates the death of the much younger husband of a wealthy heiress. The police have already written off the death as a boating accident, but, as Williams investigates, he soon learns that the dead man was in the middle of a web of political intrigue involving the governor of California, a federal judge, and the executives at some of the largest energy companies in the country. And, as Williams investigates, the dead bodies start piling up, and the bad guys try to kill Williams himself by sabotaging his car’s brakes.

The case is a tough one that has baffled the police, but Williams has some resources at his disposal the police don’t. First, there’s Vinny, Williams’ partner of sorts, who is the self-proclaimed World’s Greatest Computer Hacker, and then there is a mysterious Israeli ex-special forces agent, the World’s Greatest Bodyguard, who shows up when needed to supply the necessary muscle and/or firepower to get Williams and his friends out of trouble. It’s a good thing that Williams has such talented friends working for him, because he never seems to do much actual detective work, you know, the sort where he goes out and talks to witnesses and learns details about the victims and possible killers that would eventually enable him to actually solve the case. Instead, Williams spends most of his time moping and fretting about how difficult the case is until Vinny shows up with some piece of information that moves the plot along.

This synopsis probably doesn’t sound like the formula for an entertaining mystery and it’s not; The Color of Greed is a tedious book. Author Thompson and the various characters in the book repeat over and over again how great a detective Williams is, but all the detective work, much of which involves prodigious leaps of logic, is done by Vinny, who resembles Abby from NCIS as played by Margot Robbie, except without any of Abby’s charm. Instead, Thompson settles for providing Vinny with a few catch quotes like “true dat” to demonstrate her colorful character. Shallow as Vinny may be, she has considerably more personality than does Williams himself, whose only real personality trait is his dedication to finding out the truth (as long as it doesn’t involve any actual detective work).

There is very little action in The Color of Greed and little suspense as well, thanks to the author’s overreliance on Vinny’s seemingly magical hacking abilities. Whenever Williams or the author get stuck, Vinny simply discovers whatever new evidence is needed to advance the plot. Those who enjoy trying to solve a good mystery will be quite frustrated by the book, since the author withholds most of the plot details until the last couple of chapters of the book, at which time the author introduces some entirely new characters who are responsible for much of the book’s mayhem. Further, although the author is a fairly proficient writer, he falls back on some cheap racial gimmickry by having one of the only Hispanic characters in the book use dialogue like “joo eez” instead of “you are.”

In all fairness to the author, The Color of Greed is his first book in the William series and might be his first novel overall. It’s possible that his characters have become more fully developed as well and that he’s gotten better at actually laying out the details of intriguing storylines such as the underlying conspiracy in this book. But as it stands, The Color of Greed is a dull, at times annoying book, thanks to the simplistic lead characters. Color this one a mediocre effort. ...more

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Jul 06, 2017 Tony Parsons rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Pacific Ocean CA. The Maid Marion (40’ yacht) arrived in the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (Seal Beach).
Sandy & Darryl Harmon were getting quite hot/heavy.
The Clarice (Azimut 40’ high-end luxury sports yacht) had come right up next to them.
Detective Thomas “Tommy” Rafferty (LAPD) & Dr. Sharon Becker (Chief of Forensics, LA County coroner) had arrived on the crime scene.
Randall “Randy” Hope (32, husband) was the deceased found on board.
Clarice Hope (yacht owner, nee Smith) called Raja Williams (PI, ...more

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Mar 14, 2019 Alan McBee rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: quit-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I gave up reading 55% of the way through, in chapter 19. I never do that. This time, I did.

The characters are perfect two-dimensional stereotypes. Everyone is obscenely rich.

The author spends considerable time describing activities the main characters are doing that don't advance the plot and don't develop the characters. The foreshadowing is explicit and cliche.

I might have been able to let this go, but I happen to be a computer programmer, and there is an allegedly super-programmer character. ...more

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Nov 04, 2017 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: have-read, own-it

This story is about murder, greed of course, and how high on the food chain the corruption goes. When a wealthy heiress's husband is found dead on his yacht, Raja and Leeny is called out to California to find out who killed him. The more they dig into things, the more things they find that they don't like. Soon just staying alive is at the top of their list of things to do. But who is really after them? The Chinese mafia, or the governor? This is a great story that will keep your interest with t ...more

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Jul 05, 2017 Rhonda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I felt like I had read this before, but I kept reading. It is a good story with a lot of characters of questionable ethics. The body count is adding up and with his loyal friend and college Vinney, things go from bad to worse until the case is solved. True dat! Gotta love Vinney. Raja Williams is the man to go to to solve this crime. A good read. I felt like I had read this before, but I kept reading. I did receive this book free and have enjoyed leaving an honest review.

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Apr 18, 2020 Lee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I just love Vinny she’s my hero. And Raja just “knows” when something is wrong and begins to work on the problem. He was asked to look into the murder of Randy Hope by his wife, Clarice.
This is a twisted tale combining different people and their own weaknesses, obsessions, and goals. so it’s easy to not see the total picture until the end. The building of the characters and the story line are beautifully dealt with. Mr. Thompson has created a great series that I will enjoy reading.

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Jul 22, 2017 Robert Rawls rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Bland doesn't cut it

It came up as a suggestion and I checked reviews even ! I had to add mine to keep things real.

Predictable, Dull, Contrived w no clear purpose other than this super rich guy and this omnipotent hacker. Did I say how good looking they both were? Language is extremely simplistic pretending to be hip. Suspense = Zero. ...more

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Oct 26, 2016 Neera Sawhney rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Color Of Greed caught my interest from the very first page. I just could not put it down. Raja Williams reminds me of Sherlock Holmes, a detective who follows the clues and whose intuition is spot on. Raja and Vinny are a perfect foil for each other. This is a must read series.

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Jul 14, 2017 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways

I really enjoyed the mystery book. It was a good quick read. It was easy to get attached to the characters in the book, and allow them to take you on their solving of a murder mystery. Look forward to the next book in the series.

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Jan 31, 2020 Lisa rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Just an ok read in that there where lots of pages that could have been written with way more action and lots less boring facts. Just wasn’t a great action story. It was a great story line, but the writing left the reader trying to figure out what exactly the writer was trying to explain

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Jun 21, 2020 SA Krishnan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Raja and Vinny form a very interesting group to investigate into a murder. The story has plenty of action and enough of family moments between Raja and Vinny. The dialogues seem natural and it blends with the story. Enjoyed it.

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Jul 23, 2017 Barb rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book 📚, a very good mystery, well written, good characters, and the story moved right along.

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Jul 28, 2017 Jeanie Kidd rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great book I really enjoyed reading this book . A lot of the things happen that actually sounds realistic and cover ups. Especially the Goverment and political people.

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Dec 10, 2017 Pat Welte rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I liked this book. Different point of view.

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Jul 25, 2020 pat goode rated it liked it · review of another edition

Enjoyd

Was a good story,but of drama,but of humour,I liked the characters too.also lot of computer skills told the story too

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Mar 16, 2017 Georgina Currie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Color of Greed

What a great book, could not put the book down. Can not wit to get the next book, cast LA vie.

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Aug 20, 2012 Cameron Wiggins rated it liked it

Jack Thompson's "The Color of Greed" is a very good book. Moreover, it is just a fun book to read. "Greed" is like one of those old gumshoe novels fastforwarded to the present. Let's just drop all of those silly inhibitions, guidelines and other useless obstacles and kick our feet up and enjoy a fine weekend getaway read.
The above being said, one might wonder why the 3-star rating dude? I only give out a handful of 5-star ratings. So, a 4-star rating from me is a very high rating, and a 3-star r Jack Thompson's "The Color of Greed" is a very good book. Moreover, it is just a fun book to read. "Greed" is like one of those old gumshoe novels fastforwarded to the present. Let's just drop all of those silly inhibitions, guidelines and other useless obstacles and kick our feet up and enjoy a fine weekend getaway read.
The above being said, one might wonder why the 3-star rating dude? I only give out a handful of 5-star ratings. So, a 4-star rating from me is a very high rating, and a 3-star rating is still a very good rating. Furthermore, we can only give a whole-number rating. "Greed" was actually probably a 3.5-star in my humble opinion. (I am not published, Jack is, I have tremendous respect for this.) Also, the 3-star rating had nothing to do with the story content. And the 3-star rating should not deter anyone from reading this book, or any future book of Jack's. I know that I will be reading the next Raja Williams book when it hits the shelf. Enough said.
Raja Williams is Oxford-educated, comes from insane amounts of money, and is very interested in seeing that no one is taken advantage of in the legal system. In other words, that equal justice is available to all - no matter whom they are. Raja works for free, basically, he tries to work for expenses when he can, if he cannot, no matter. He has one of the world's best hackers at his beckon call for his side kick - Vinnie.
Clarice Hope retains Raja on this case when her husband, Randy, is found dead. The authorities are only too quick to chalk it up to a death by natural causes. However, Clarice is sure that Randy has been murdered. Raja agrees to take the case and immediately pursues leads to the West coast. In short order, Raja and Vinnie become involved in all kinds of political doings and it becomes quite clear to them that Randy was murdered to keep quiet. They are just not sure what he was supposed to keep quiet about.
Randy obviously found out some deep secret before he was killed for it. There are many twists and turns to the plot of this story that hold the reader's interest. It is one of those books that you just don't want to quit reading. The author definitely keeps the reader guessing. The verbage is sparse and the action is intense. This does not distract from the book. You will not regret reading this book; it is action packed. ...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Kimberly rated it liked it

Up for a little mystery? A little political intrigue? Throw in a dash of suspense and a cool as a cucumber PI and you have The Color of Greed, the first novel in the Raja Williams series by Jack Thompson.

We get to know James Bondish Raja and his trusty hot genius computer hacker assistant Vinnie when they get a call from a wealthy grieving widow in California who is convinced her husband has been murdered, despite the fact that his death was ruled as natural. The plot takes us from LA to Hol Up for a little mystery? A little political intrigue? Throw in a dash of suspense and a cool as a cucumber PI and you have The Color of Greed, the first novel in the Raja Williams series by Jack Thompson.

We get to know James Bondish Raja and his trusty hot genius computer hacker assistant Vinnie when they get a call from a wealthy grieving widow in California who is convinced her husband has been murdered, despite the fact that his death was ruled as natural. The plot takes us from LA to Hollywood to San Fran as our protagonists chase down leads and become enmeshed in some pretty sordid political intrigue. The characters get away with a lot, but that's half the fun.

While I enjoyed the characters in this new series, I felt they could have been given a lot more depth. Reminder: This is coming from a reader who thrives on character-driven fiction. For instance, Raja is somewhat of an empath but the story doesn't really touch on this at all. I thought it was intriguing and would have loved to know more. I realize this is the first in a series and that many more little nuggets of background are sure to come in future installments, but I like to dig deep on what makes a character tick as soon as possible. It's what binds me to them and makes me care. But Raja is as slick as they come, folks. If you're a PI/mystery fan you're sure to love him. Vinnie tended to get on my nerves a bit, but I think that's intentional. I actually felt like I knew the secondary characters better than Raja and Vinnie and I enjoyed them immensely.

I like it that the plot took a twist near the end; however, I thought that line could have been fleshed out a little more, along with the new characters involved. It sort of came out of nowhere for me. Otherwise, it's a very well-written novel with a solid plot. Mr. Thompson's writing style is sparse and to the point without a lot of flowery, fluffy prose. He tells a good story, critical to a good novel, and a fact that (unfortunately) many self pubs seem to ignore.

This is a solid start to a new series written by an author who obviously knows the rules of weaving a satisfying plot (and of English and grammar YAY). For all of you who like a good, old-fashioned PI story in the vein of Columbo and Berretta (was he a PI?), pick this one up for a rollicking, quick, fun read. Definitely an author to watch. ...more

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Jun 06, 2015 Patricia Hamill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-by-me, 2015-reads, found-free

The Color of Greed is a solid murder mystery set in LA. Raja Williams, the private investigator, is one of those charismatic heroes who make this sort of story fun to read. Vinny is also cool, though she’s the typical mega hacker, pretty much able to accomplish whatever she wants as long as it’s connected to a computer.

The plot is well-designed and, though I couldn’t figure out who the culprit was, I did have fun trying. There’s a lot going on in this story: conspiracy, corruption, infidelity, a ...more

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About Jack Thompson

Jack Thompson

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Jack Thompson is an international bestselling author finding voices in many genres. In addition to his popular Raja Williams mystery series, Jack writes science fiction, political thrillers, paranormal romance, children's stories and fairy tales.

According to Jack, whether reading or writing, what makes a story great is how well it communicates to the reader. Whether presenting him with a hero he w ...more