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Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery #1
Too Lucky to Live
Lonely and broke, Cleveland divorce-survivor Allie Harper believes all her problems would be solved if she could find a nice, smart, hot guy and enough money to get her car fixed.
The hot guy arrives he's in a crosswalk clutching a bag of groceries while a blonde in a Hummer is learning hard on her horn, sending the man's groceries and white cane flying. How has this woman missed that fact that the man is blind? From the curb, an outraged Allie jumps to his rescue, rebagging the groceries as well.
The money is in the bag. Literally- Thomas Bennington III, for that's who the handsome guy proves to be, has bought a MondoMegaJackpot ticket along with canned tomatoes. Allie takes him home and turns his groceries into dinner for two. Later that night, Tom hears the numbers announced. He's won. And he's less than thrilled. PhD Tom had gambled on the odds of losing (175 million to one) to prove a point to Rune, a kid from the projects he's befriended, that only losers buy lottery tickets. Instead, Rune, who'd helped pick the Mondo numbers, will share Tom's jackpot.
Allie and Tom grasp two one, they're hot for each other, and two, the ticket is a hot target, and now so are they. Every scheming weasel in Cleveland will be after Tom's millions. $550 of them. Yes, once the Mondo ball drops, it's game on with killers and kidnappers as players.
Allie and Tom need to get smarter about the threats all around them. On the run from one fancy hotel refuge to another and from one danger moment to the next, with only Allie s feisty landlady, Margo, and a couple of Cleveland cops for back-up, Allie and Tom evolve a strategy. First, turn in the ticket and claim the jackpot. Second, set up accounts to manage the millions. Third, stay alive to the end of the week…if they can.
Too Lucky to Live debuts a talented writer in Annie Hogsett and a couple in Allie and Tom, a modern Nick and Nora Charles, who can power a compelling, amusing series with an excellent future.
The hot guy arrives he's in a crosswalk clutching a bag of groceries while a blonde in a Hummer is learning hard on her horn, sending the man's groceries and white cane flying. How has this woman missed that fact that the man is blind? From the curb, an outraged Allie jumps to his rescue, rebagging the groceries as well.
The money is in the bag. Literally- Thomas Bennington III, for that's who the handsome guy proves to be, has bought a MondoMegaJackpot ticket along with canned tomatoes. Allie takes him home and turns his groceries into dinner for two. Later that night, Tom hears the numbers announced. He's won. And he's less than thrilled. PhD Tom had gambled on the odds of losing (175 million to one) to prove a point to Rune, a kid from the projects he's befriended, that only losers buy lottery tickets. Instead, Rune, who'd helped pick the Mondo numbers, will share Tom's jackpot.
Allie and Tom grasp two one, they're hot for each other, and two, the ticket is a hot target, and now so are they. Every scheming weasel in Cleveland will be after Tom's millions. $550 of them. Yes, once the Mondo ball drops, it's game on with killers and kidnappers as players.
Allie and Tom need to get smarter about the threats all around them. On the run from one fancy hotel refuge to another and from one danger moment to the next, with only Allie s feisty landlady, Margo, and a couple of Cleveland cops for back-up, Allie and Tom evolve a strategy. First, turn in the ticket and claim the jackpot. Second, set up accounts to manage the millions. Third, stay alive to the end of the week…if they can.
Too Lucky to Live debuts a talented writer in Annie Hogsett and a couple in Allie and Tom, a modern Nick and Nora Charles, who can power a compelling, amusing series with an excellent future.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2017
49 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
May 15, 2018
Alice Jane Harper, known usually as Allie, wants a nice guy and enough money to get her car fixed. She ends up meeting a guy when woman driving a Hummer hit the horn sending the man in the pedestrian crossing and his groceries and white cane flying. Allie stops to help him. The man is Thomas Bennington 3rd. Allie takes home home. Later than night Tom hears he was won a Mondo Mega Jackpot, Given the massive odds of winning Tom gad gambled on losing which would have proved his point that gambling is a mugs game and prove the point about the futility of gambling to young Rune, a boy he has befriended. Suddenly Tom finds himself a target for the unscrupulous who will resort to murder to get what they want.
This book started off okay. It was mildly amusing and just a bit quirky but then it seemed to go over and over the same ground as it lurched from one danger to another and the murders added up. Somewhere along the way I found my interest waned. Although I kept reading to see how it ended but it wasn’t a terribly satisfying experience. And the ending wrapped up unrealistically. Apparently this is the start of a series featured Allie and Tom, but I doubt I will read any more in the series. However others may enjoy it more than I did.
This book started off okay. It was mildly amusing and just a bit quirky but then it seemed to go over and over the same ground as it lurched from one danger to another and the murders added up. Somewhere along the way I found my interest waned. Although I kept reading to see how it ended but it wasn’t a terribly satisfying experience. And the ending wrapped up unrealistically. Apparently this is the start of a series featured Allie and Tom, but I doubt I will read any more in the series. However others may enjoy it more than I did.
gave-up-on
February 21, 2017Had to give up on this one halfway through. It seemed confused about what type of book it wants to be - the mystery element was muddled, and the romance seemed unrealistic. Cute premise though.
December 22, 2024
This wasn’t bad, just unnecessarily long.
May 7, 2017
Waiting for the bus and looking up when the honking began, Allie Harper sees a blind man frozen in the crosswalk with groceries spilled all around him. Allie rushes out to calm and rescue him along with as much of the groceries as possible. Leading him to the bus shelter to sit in safety, Allie asks him (after considering his groceries) if he was planning on making chili. In a moment of calculated risk, she asks this handsome, good smelling blind man to join her at her house to co-mingle ingredients and make chili together. After a formal introduction (Tom not Thomas), he says yes. And one of the sweetest romances begins.
But like all good things, there is a problem, and Tom has a huge one. In a calculated gamble to teach a young boy in the projects a lesson about why he shouldn't gamble and play the lottery, they put together a series of numbers and Tom buys a ticket which is also in that sack with the chili ingredients. It turns out he is the single winner of the MongoMillions sweepstake of over 500 million dollars. What a problem, you think. HA!
With destruction and death and even kidnapping at every opportunity, Allie and Tom try to figure out how to handle the ticket and the money as they fall deeper in love. The news of the winning ticket spreads like a wildfire among the undesirables at the housing project where Tom's young friend lives. No one is safe from the ticket searchers, including a neighbor that loaned Allie a car!
I confess I stayed up half the night because I could not bear to put down this exciting book. The author has woven a spider like thread between the people who have been murdered or tried to take advantage of Tom and Allie's situation. I appreciated the insight on how a blind person handles stress like this and what he could and could not accomplish on his own. The fact that Tom is blind is obviously of huge importance, however in reality, he often manages better than the sighted people! The author has done a phenomenal job of creating realistic characters, intertwining facts and fiction, and writing a book that will appeal to many readers. Be ready for some shocking twists and turns just when you were sure you had it figured out. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a series or at bare minimum there is a sequel. A fantastic book-especially as a debut author!
But like all good things, there is a problem, and Tom has a huge one. In a calculated gamble to teach a young boy in the projects a lesson about why he shouldn't gamble and play the lottery, they put together a series of numbers and Tom buys a ticket which is also in that sack with the chili ingredients. It turns out he is the single winner of the MongoMillions sweepstake of over 500 million dollars. What a problem, you think. HA!
With destruction and death and even kidnapping at every opportunity, Allie and Tom try to figure out how to handle the ticket and the money as they fall deeper in love. The news of the winning ticket spreads like a wildfire among the undesirables at the housing project where Tom's young friend lives. No one is safe from the ticket searchers, including a neighbor that loaned Allie a car!
I confess I stayed up half the night because I could not bear to put down this exciting book. The author has woven a spider like thread between the people who have been murdered or tried to take advantage of Tom and Allie's situation. I appreciated the insight on how a blind person handles stress like this and what he could and could not accomplish on his own. The fact that Tom is blind is obviously of huge importance, however in reality, he often manages better than the sighted people! The author has done a phenomenal job of creating realistic characters, intertwining facts and fiction, and writing a book that will appeal to many readers. Be ready for some shocking twists and turns just when you were sure you had it figured out. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a series or at bare minimum there is a sequel. A fantastic book-especially as a debut author!
April 19, 2018
I started off enjoying this book. It is more of a light-hearted mystery where people die. Then about half way through I lost all enthusiasm for it.
Basic Storyline:
Lady helps blind man stuck in the middle of an intersection. Blind man and lady hit it off. While kissing about 2 hours after they met blind man super-power hearing picks up the lottery numbers. Turns out he has won, which surprised him as he only bought a ticket to show his 8-year-old student that it was practically impossible to win, so he would give up on the idea and find other ways to help his family get money. The kid blabs to everyone that his blind teacher/friend has won the mega lotto and everyone tries to kill the kid, the blind man, his new mistress, and about anyone else they come in contact with.
What Actually Happens?
Kissing, win mega bucks in the lotto, run, people die, get frisky (hey, I named a cat that when I was little. I wonder if my parents laughed about that...), more people die, run more, shootout, more getting it on (because he has to braille her body and WOW!), more people die and there is more running and getting it on...stage is set for probably the remainder of the book.
This is all in less than a week within the book. I gave up about the week mark. I skimmed the last few chapters and there didn't seem to be any big reveal about someone they trusted turning on them or anything else scandalous. If there was I missed it. It was just too much of the same thing. It felt like every chapter repeated what the chapter before said. Shame, I was in desperate need of something different than the domestic and psychological thrillers I have read lately. I guess it is back to Confessions of a Shopaholic. Good thing I really like that series.
Basic Storyline:
Lady helps blind man stuck in the middle of an intersection. Blind man and lady hit it off. While kissing about 2 hours after they met blind man super-power hearing picks up the lottery numbers. Turns out he has won, which surprised him as he only bought a ticket to show his 8-year-old student that it was practically impossible to win, so he would give up on the idea and find other ways to help his family get money. The kid blabs to everyone that his blind teacher/friend has won the mega lotto and everyone tries to kill the kid, the blind man, his new mistress, and about anyone else they come in contact with.
What Actually Happens?
Kissing, win mega bucks in the lotto, run, people die, get frisky (hey, I named a cat that when I was little. I wonder if my parents laughed about that...), more people die, run more, shootout, more getting it on (because he has to braille her body and WOW!), more people die and there is more running and getting it on...stage is set for probably the remainder of the book.
This is all in less than a week within the book. I gave up about the week mark. I skimmed the last few chapters and there didn't seem to be any big reveal about someone they trusted turning on them or anything else scandalous. If there was I missed it. It was just too much of the same thing. It felt like every chapter repeated what the chapter before said. Shame, I was in desperate need of something different than the domestic and psychological thrillers I have read lately. I guess it is back to Confessions of a Shopaholic. Good thing I really like that series.
November 7, 2024
A murder mystery with the mystery (& murder) still in progress throughout the novel. A different take, and you felt the summer heat radiating throughout.
August 1, 2017
Allie Harper very quickly tells us, "I have always felt that with some training, I'd make an excellent P.I. A cross between V.I. Warshawski and Kinsey Millhone, with a dash of Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter, thrown in for insouciance." In Too Lucky to Live, I saw a lot of Stephanie Plum and not much at all of Millhone and Warshawski. Rune, the poor kid Tom was trying to teach a lesson, was my favorite character, but there wasn't enough of him. I have to be honest and say that I understand why. With killers and kidnappers behind every door, giving Rune a more substantial part would call for putting a child in a lot of danger, and I don't care for that at all.
Too Lucky to Live is a light, quick, fun read which is well-suited to fans of mysteries like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.
Too Lucky to Live is a light, quick, fun read which is well-suited to fans of mysteries like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.
June 21, 2017
Quite a lot of deaths, a not very convincing story. Plus chic lit pure fiction. Still, not terrible. DPL book
Read
August 22, 2019Local author writes book set in Cleveland. Meg- I think you would really enjoy it. This is the beginning of a series.
March 17, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this romantic suspense set in Cleveland, Ohio. Alice (who wants a new life and to be called Allie) Harper meets Thomas Bennington III (Tom, please, who thinks he has his life buttoned up just as he wants it) after a Hummer nearly runs Tom over while he is crossing an intersection. He’s the one who’s blind and using a white cane to tap his way across the street, but the driver’s blinded by her hurry to get to her job. Allie rescues most of Tom’s groceries and escorts him to safety. A flattened can of tomatoes provides Allie an excuse to invite Tom to make a shared dinner at her place.
Allie isn’t normally that impulsive—or so she claims. Tom won a lottery worth $550 million before lump sum discount and taxes. He had only entered it to prove to his 7 1/4 -year-old friend, Rune, that gambling was a bad idea.
Lots of people think Tom and his money should be separated, which puts, Tom, Allie, Rune, and the family they would like to build in jeopardy. Like many amateur sleuths, Allie soon goes places and does things that few others would consider after even a modicum of deliberation. As the story progresses, she learns her actions have deadly consequences.
The story has enough twists and turns that even if you guess some, you won’t get them all. The characters and settings are well drawn and strong enough to support a series.
With permission of Poisoned Pen Press, I received an electronic version of the advanced copy through NetGalley.
Allie isn’t normally that impulsive—or so she claims. Tom won a lottery worth $550 million before lump sum discount and taxes. He had only entered it to prove to his 7 1/4 -year-old friend, Rune, that gambling was a bad idea.
Lots of people think Tom and his money should be separated, which puts, Tom, Allie, Rune, and the family they would like to build in jeopardy. Like many amateur sleuths, Allie soon goes places and does things that few others would consider after even a modicum of deliberation. As the story progresses, she learns her actions have deadly consequences.
The story has enough twists and turns that even if you guess some, you won’t get them all. The characters and settings are well drawn and strong enough to support a series.
With permission of Poisoned Pen Press, I received an electronic version of the advanced copy through NetGalley.
September 11, 2017
This is a lucky day for Thomas Bennington III. First Allie Harper rescues him from being run over by a Hummer in the crosswalk and then he wins the $550 million Mondo Mega Jackpot. Blind since he was 25, Tom is not usually so disoriented, but that big SVU completely destroyed his sense of balance. Allie saves both him and his groceries, then impulsively invites him back to her house to enjoy some beer to go with the chili he was going to make. The two immediately hit it off and are in the process of getting to know each other better, when Tom hears a nearby TV announce the winning numbers for the lottery. He bought the ticket to prove to a young boy he has befriended that playing the lottery is no way to get rich. So he and Rune picked out the special numbers and inexplicably Tom becomes the single winner of the lottery. Tom knows Rune will be running around excitedly, blurting out the numbers. He and Allie race to the housing project where Rune lives only to find out they were right. In Rune’s apartment, they find his mother badly beaten and several disreputable characters lingering in the rec room just waiting for the blind guy who just won the lottery. In the space of just a few days, Allie and Tom fall in love, but also unintentionally leave a trail of dead bodies all connected to Tom’s new wealth. Too Lucky to Live by Annie Hogsett is a funny, romantic, suspenseful story that tell readers money is nice, but love is better.
May 20, 2017
After a divorce that left her with nothing, Allie is living in a small house and riding the bus to save money to fix her car. While waiting for a bus, she helps a blind man that is startled in the middle of the road. Allie is so taken by Tom's looks that invites him to her home so she can cook the few groceries he has left. During that dinner, Allie and Tom find out he bought a winning ticket worth of 500 million dollars. Unfortunately, a lot of people are also aware of the fact.
I enjoyed this book for two reasons, the first is that the romance is solved in 10 pages (or less) and so the story is mostly focused on hiding from killers, finding bodies and counting friends and foes. The second is that Allie and Tom do not take anyone for granted and suspect everyone they meet, which makes them slightly smarter than most characters in this type of story. Unfortunately, the baddie is not that hard to guess, but I enjoyed the way the text is written and learnt a couple of new words.
Small remark: I did not find this book as close to Stephanie Plum's (by Janet Evanovich) as the reviews said. It is not laugh out loud, nor laugh softly, it is a crime fiction novel that entertains in a non-nonsense way that is nothing like Stephanie's.
I enjoyed this book for two reasons, the first is that the romance is solved in 10 pages (or less) and so the story is mostly focused on hiding from killers, finding bodies and counting friends and foes. The second is that Allie and Tom do not take anyone for granted and suspect everyone they meet, which makes them slightly smarter than most characters in this type of story. Unfortunately, the baddie is not that hard to guess, but I enjoyed the way the text is written and learnt a couple of new words.
Small remark: I did not find this book as close to Stephanie Plum's (by Janet Evanovich) as the reviews said. It is not laugh out loud, nor laugh softly, it is a crime fiction novel that entertains in a non-nonsense way that is nothing like Stephanie's.
August 6, 2017
Thomas Bennington III was crossing the street with the groceries he has bought along with his mondo mega jackpot ticket!!!! A blonde woman in her hummer lays on the horn startling Thomas his groceries and ticket went flying in the street. How has this woman missed the fact that the guy is blind??? From the curb an outraged Allie comes to his aide and re bagging the groceries as well. Allie takes him home and turns his groceries into dinner for two. They turn on the tv Tom hears his numbers being announced. He has gambled on the odds of him losing 175 million to one to prove a point to Rune a kid from the projects he's befriended that only losers buy lottery tickets instead Rune who helped picked the mondo numbers will share toms jackpot!!!! Allie & Tom grasp two things they're hot for one another and two the ticket is a hot target and now so are they!!!! Once the mondo ball drops its a game with killers and kidnappers as players. On the run with one fancy hotel to another and one dangerous moment to the next with only Allie landlady and a couple of Cleaveland cops for backup.Allie & Tom plan a strategy first turn in the ticket and claim the jackpot second set up accounts to manage the millions. Third stay alive for the end of the week. A awesome read!!!!!!
September 4, 2018
This is a five-star in the genre but doesn't quite hit my five-star all-time love it and reread it books. But I still highly recommend it as a fun book to read. Our hero is a fun, bit ditzy, divorcee who rescues a "hot" blind guy crossing the street who just happens to hold the winning lottery ticket of a Mondo jackpot! How lucky can you get! But what the book illustrates is that winning a big jackpot brings out every scheming, threatening bad guy in the woodwork. If you are not born rich, you don't have the support system or the know-how to avoid both the journalistic hoards or the scamming thieves. Deaths, kidnapping, home invasion--you name it, fun happenings in Too Lucky to Live. Great title. And having the male love interest be blind is a great plot twist--lots of description about how he senses the world and complicated issues about self-identity and feeling independent despite blindness. Have you noticed how often we use phrases about seeing in our vocabulary and the stumbling block that is when we talk to someone who is blind? "Don't you see?" "Wow, look at that." Oh shoot, this really was fun and had lots going for it. I am going to give it a five.
November 4, 2024
I picked it because it takes place a few miles from home. It’s so fun to see the locations that are familiar. It was good, totally fine for a free mystery that I got from the library. It does feel very Mary Sue, like the author is living out a personal fantasy through aspects of the story. For example, suddenly in love with this GORGEOUS, kind, intelligent, thoughtful basically perfect man who’s just as suddenly in love with her. And the winner of $550M. I’m not a fan of suddenly in love anyway, I like to see relationships grow more realistically. Or when her gorgeous but awful ex-husband saw her with her gorgeous and clever new love at a restaurant, it was pure revenge fantasy. But there is something vicariously fun about that too, it’s not all a bad thing. The premise, that suddenly filthy rich can come with some major inconveniences and outright dangers is a good one.
To be clear, I still really do want to win $500M. I doubt my life would get so messy.
But I’ll take their tip and look into how to do it anonymously.
To be clear, I still really do want to win $500M. I doubt my life would get so messy.
But I’ll take their tip and look into how to do it anonymously.
June 3, 2017
I'm in love. From the very beginning when Allie "rescues" Tom to the very end of the story. I love this couple. I want more stories. Right now. Tom and Allie are very appealing individually. He is a charming Southerner with a good sense of humor. She is an Ohioan (I assume), a bit down on her luck due to an ugly divorce from an ugly attorney. She has a funny fabulous attitude towards life and you know she would be okay in her life again even if Tom hadn't popped into it. A winning lottery ticket disrupts their getting to know one another big time. Break-ins and murders force their relationship into overdrive as they must trust each other. As Tom puts it, they're cooked. Allie words it, they're screwed. They mean they are head-over-heels in love with one another. That fast! I want to thank author Tina Whittle for recommending this book. I love her Tai and Trey books (another fabulous couple I am stalking).
July 6, 2020
Since I am from Ohio and somewhat familiar withCleveland, I loved the setting of this book. Allie is a fun leading lady, though a bit OCD and meddlesome (but aren't most good sleuths?) Her landlady is an awesome character.(An entire series could be written around the lovable BFF Margo.)
I enjoyed finding out the identity of a Hummer lady, and Rune seemed very sweet. If you have ever been to the rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, a major portion of the crime takes place in the dark hallway with all of those names and Hall of Famer signatures. That was an intense scene!
I was a bit surprised by the criminal mastermind and the messy ending...
The denouement is the not thing keeping me from 5 stars.
I am delighted to find out this was just book one in a Series, and I am already starting on book 2, another "somebody's bound to wind up dead mystery."
I enjoyed this fun romp of a read.
I enjoyed finding out the identity of a Hummer lady, and Rune seemed very sweet. If you have ever been to the rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, a major portion of the crime takes place in the dark hallway with all of those names and Hall of Famer signatures. That was an intense scene!
I was a bit surprised by the criminal mastermind and the messy ending...
The denouement is the not thing keeping me from 5 stars.
I am delighted to find out this was just book one in a Series, and I am already starting on book 2, another "somebody's bound to wind up dead mystery."
I enjoyed this fun romp of a read.
June 20, 2022
Have you ever wished you could win the lottery? To prove to a child how unlikely it is to win the lottery a blind man, Thomas Bennington III, buys a ticket and wouldn't you know, he wins. The child sees the numbers drawn on TV and tells others in his apartment building that his friend won the lottery. That night his mother is beaten so badly she is taken to the hospital unconscious. Within days others are murdered and the boy (now in foster care) is slowly learning that winning the lottery isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Thomas Bennington III is actually a bit upset about having won the lottery. He likes his work, has his routine figured out (very important when you can't see) and has just met the woman of his dreams. Then his friends neighbors start getting killed because someone (or many someones) want to get their hands on the winning ticket. He and his lovely lady need to find a way to survive and help the child survive, so they can get throught the trauma of winning.
Thomas Bennington III is actually a bit upset about having won the lottery. He likes his work, has his routine figured out (very important when you can't see) and has just met the woman of his dreams. Then his friends neighbors start getting killed because someone (or many someones) want to get their hands on the winning ticket. He and his lovely lady need to find a way to survive and help the child survive, so they can get throught the trauma of winning.
November 9, 2019
This was a very humorous mystery. In the opening pages, Allie sees a Hummer practically run down a blind man in a crosswalk then lay on the horn as though HE were in the wrong. Rattled by the close call and blaring horn, he drops his groceries. Allie comes to the rescue and she and Tom, the blind man, quickly fall in love. But later that same evening, he learns that the mega lottery ticket he bought only to serve as an object lesson of the pointlessness of lottery tickets to an inner-city-kid friend of his has just won the whole pot. Soon bad guys are appearing and killing each other left and right, mostly while trying to extort the money out of Tom. The entire plot is so flamboyant, so outrageously impossible, that it takes on a weird sort of credibility -- and is just a whole lot of fun to follow! There are a lot of laughs and likable characters in this romp.
June 19, 2017
A blind man is lucky enough to win what is described as a Mondo Mega Jackpot worth $550 million. However, although he is also fortunate enough to form a relationship with a feisty and charming young lady at the same time, the unexpected windfall leads to jealousy, avarice and danger as various people they encounter are murdered and a child they care for is kidnapped and held for ransom.
I thought the couple were reminiscent of Tommy and Tuppence from the Agatha Christie series. At the end of the book, they were planning on setting up their own detective agency and I can foresee this as the beginning of a successful new series featuring the couple as amateur detectives. I look forward to their next adventure.
I thought the couple were reminiscent of Tommy and Tuppence from the Agatha Christie series. At the end of the book, they were planning on setting up their own detective agency and I can foresee this as the beginning of a successful new series featuring the couple as amateur detectives. I look forward to their next adventure.
February 3, 2019
I loved this book. I read it after "Hazards of Time Travel," by Joyce Carol Oates. It was so good, I finished it in one day - just didn't want to put it down. It has everything you could want: mystery, excitement, romance, caring, plus it was set in Cleveland, OH, my home town.
I really liked Ms. Hogsett's style and the two main characters: Allie Harper, who is recovering from a particularly unpleasant divorce, struggling with low esteem, loneliness, and financial issues, and Thomas Bennington, III, PhD, an especially handsome, intelligent blind man. Abruptly, their lives take a whirlwind turn, with dead bodies, kidnapping, mugging, robbery, breaking and entering. Even the two police are interesting, and the unraveling of the mystery surprising. Enjoy!
I really liked Ms. Hogsett's style and the two main characters: Allie Harper, who is recovering from a particularly unpleasant divorce, struggling with low esteem, loneliness, and financial issues, and Thomas Bennington, III, PhD, an especially handsome, intelligent blind man. Abruptly, their lives take a whirlwind turn, with dead bodies, kidnapping, mugging, robbery, breaking and entering. Even the two police are interesting, and the unraveling of the mystery surprising. Enjoy!
July 24, 2017
This book was an interesting read, however it did not turn out as I expected. The writing in the last 40 pages was a bit weak and the ending set up another possible book. (Something I really do not appreciate, although I can see why other readers might). The writing was good and the dialog flow made it easy to read. The main characters were developed enough to follow the story line, but not what I would call "in depth". The minor characters had little, if any, character development and this is my main complaint with the book. I am giving it three stars because the story line was new to me.
I borrowed this book from the Berkley, MI public library.
I borrowed this book from the Berkley, MI public library.
November 29, 2017
3.5 although there were elements I loved and those I hated. Using a blind lottery winner as a potential crime victim for all those nefarious people who might try to steal his money was entertaining. Add in a ditzy woman he falls in love with, slightly reminiscent of Stephanie Plum and you'll find some laugh out loud moments. But, the ditzy woman happens to be a 'part time' librarian and the blind winner a college professor, so you would imagine they would have better sense to set events in motion that end up with a large number of people dead. If you like madcap mysteries set in Cleveland, give it a try!
September 14, 2018
This was a reader's choice book and it looked like a fun mystery that I would enjoy. I read the first few chapters and thought it was so over the top and silly. This girl meets this blind guy in the crosswalk and helps him from getting hit by a car.
She just happens to save his groceries too and they end up having dinner and more. She finds out that he is a lottery winner of a huge prize and that's about as far as I got. I was wondering if I should read more and then looked at some of the reviews that said they liked the first part of the book but they got bored and it fizzled from there. I didn't like the first part of the book so there was no reason for me to continue.
She just happens to save his groceries too and they end up having dinner and more. She finds out that he is a lottery winner of a huge prize and that's about as far as I got. I was wondering if I should read more and then looked at some of the reviews that said they liked the first part of the book but they got bored and it fizzled from there. I didn't like the first part of the book so there was no reason for me to continue.
July 8, 2018
I will start by saying that I liked this book, but I was pretty disappointed in the ending, especially the last page. I liked the characters. I didn't think this was moving too slowly. However, I don't think this should be a continuing series.
August 26, 2017
Disclaimer: Too Lucky to Live is not my genre – (I confess to the crime of never having read Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Sue Grafton . . . you name them, you won’t find them on my bookshelves. But I am too lucky to know the author. Proud to say Annie Hogsett is my friend, and on every page of her rollicking and quirky novel, I hear her voice, I cheer her humor, share her love of Cleveland and celebrate her fine and entertaining work. Long live Allie and Tom and the Poison Pen that created them!
July 10, 2019
I loved this book. I picked it up at my local library on a whim. Never even read the synopsis.
Girl saves blind guy from angry chick in a Hummer, saves guy, groceries and takes him home. This is the start of a madcap adventure with 550 million dollar lottery win, too many deaths to keep track of and on top of this they fall in love.
I hope Annie Hogsett writes many many more tales of Allie & Tom. I can't say enough good things about this story.
Girl saves blind guy from angry chick in a Hummer, saves guy, groceries and takes him home. This is the start of a madcap adventure with 550 million dollar lottery win, too many deaths to keep track of and on top of this they fall in love.
I hope Annie Hogsett writes many many more tales of Allie & Tom. I can't say enough good things about this story.
May 16, 2017
The marketing for this book likens it to the work of Janet Evanovich. Not quite, but an entertaining read. Hogsett provides a good mix of humor and intrigue, and the characters are endearing. I'm curious as to how she will continue to develop the relationship between the two detectives now that they are formally going into business. I'll read the next one when it comes out!
May 27, 2017
This book is the story of Thomas Bennington III and Allie Harper. Mr. Bennington has just purchased a lottery ticket and is crossing the street when he is struck by a car and rescued by Allie. From there the story is all about staying alive for Tom & Allie. Tom has the winning ticket and people start dying because everybody wants the money. Oh yeah, Tom is blind. The book was a quick easy read.
June 21, 2017
This was a quick, fun summer read that kept me guessing as to what would happen next. I also wasn't sure who the bad guys were! Tom, who is blind, wins a mega lottery and finds that everybody wants the prize money. He's just hooked up with Allie who also becomes a target as Tom's friend. So we have murder, kidnapping, burglary, with some romance thrown in!!
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