"Wild Florida police procedural"

Florida state police brass felt fellow officer Bill Tasker killed a cop, but wanted to avoid the messy scandal of an inquiry. Thus, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement transferred him from the West Palm Beach Field Office to the Miami Regional Center. Bill would have welcomed the investigation because he knows he did not kill the cop, but goes along with the bureaucracy because he does not trust the political hacks who run the department. Four years later, he still watches his step.

Former convict Cole Hodges embezzled one and half million dollars of money donated to Miami's Committee for Community Relief. Tasker investigates the shortfall. However, FBI Agent Tom Dooley decides to take the loot. To insure that he gets away with the crime and knowing he has the perfect patsy, he stuffs cash in Tasker's outdoor grill; Tasker is investigated and pulled off the embezzlement case. Police officer Rick Bema concludes that Dooley stole the money and set up Tasker to take the fall. Instead of turning in his findings, Bema makes a bid for a piece of the action.

WALKING MONEY is a wild Florida police procedural filled with cops coming down with gold fever while the only police officer who stays pristine becomes the prime suspect. Fans will think of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with everyone double crossing and chasing one another in pursuit of the embezzled funds. The bad cops make the tale a fun police procedural, but the tainted divorced Bill, father of a ten year old, keeps the tale focused so that the audience will appreciate a zany cynical ride.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 13, 2004

Summary

For more than seventeen years with the U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Jim Born has seen just about everything Florida crime and criminals can throw at him, and he's put it all into as entertaining and accomplished a first thriller as you'll find anywhere this year. State cop Bill Tasker has had problems in the past, but nothing compared to what's about to happen to him. A satchel with a million and a half in skimmed money is about to go walking. A phony community activist has decided to cash in, but a local FBI agent also has his eyes on the prize, a key witness gets murdered, and it's Tasker who ends up framed for the whole thing. Soon, other people become seduced by the cash as well, and as the bag passes from hand to hand and the body count mounts, Tasker realizes it's all up to him. If he doesn't retake his life right now . . . someone's going to do it for him. Filled with a rich array of characters, a constantly twisting plot, and an authenticity so deep you can't help wondering how much of this is actually true, Walking Money is indeed proof that "Jim Born is the real thing."