Millionaires

by Herbert D. Kastle

"This is an expected follow-up of The Movie Maker and Miami Golden Boy, namely lots of sex and lots of action and all of it roughage dealing with Bay Island (near Miami) where 12 millionaries have their The Veners with their Picassos; very old Mrs. Greshen with her Light of Stars diamond; and Allie Mortonson with his daughter Ceecee. Returning there is the now bankrupt young Bucky Prince who plans, with others in his not so gainful employ, the robbery at the gala which will end in bloodshed and his retrieval by (the now pregnant) Ceecee. Think of it, if you must, as a jockstrap-hanger's delight." -- Kirkus Reviews "The plot in this novel opens the way for a really find piece of fiction..." Sunday Gazette-Mail "A suspense-filled adventure story, as ingenious in its plot as it is exotic in its setting." -- Honolulu Star-Advertiser

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 1972

Reviews

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a Phoenix summer of reading mostly Western paperbacks I decided to go for an old fashioned beach read. You know, the kind of thick paperback that would end up smelling like coconut suntan oil and cigarettes. The kind of book your grandmother would have read back in the day.

MILLIONAIRES was published in 1972 and is the sort of novel fans of a shows like REVENGE would enjoy. It's populated by a cast of characters who display all the motives and hormones of your average high school student, in spite of being wealthy and powerful. Think DYNASTY with sex and you've got the stage set. It's a soap opera disguised as a heist novel, about a fallen millionaire, Walter Danforth "Bucky" Prince, who hatches on a scheme to take over an island enclave of millionaires and loot it. About halfway into the book, after a handful of affairs and one-night stands, Bucky finally gives his crew a rundown of how the heist will be carried out. It's got all trappings of failure, yet our crew goes headlong into it.

I don't mean to sound like I'm dumping on the novel, because I'm not. I actually enjoyed it. It's mindless entertainment, but well-written mindless entertainment. I can't tell you how many times I've started a novel that has a great concept only to get bogged down with authorial intrusions, lazy writing and ego, as though the writers want everyone to know how much they're above the usual genres and themes that populate the Borders bookshelves. This book clocks in at a dense 400 pages, and is never once boring. They don't write them like this much anymore. And for a dollar (what I shelled out for a used copy) it was one of the best bangs for my buck of this long hot summer.

[Nick Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disillusioned, drunken and disgraced society millionaire hatches a scheme to use his old money mores and manners to infiltrate a haven for the wealthy and pull of a daring heist. Of course, our hero spends the majority of the novel infiltrating heiresses.

[Stuart Mutsonziwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pretty raunchy book with some of the best sex scenes I've ever read. I highly recommend Herbert Kastle if you're into that sort of thing. But there’s also a very good story in there as well. Pretty much a perfect book.