McMillions: The Absolutely True Story of How an Unlikely Pair of FBI Agents Brought Down the Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History

by James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte

In the tradition of Argo, The Wizard of Lies, and The Smartest Guys in the Room, a book that expands upon the HBO docuseries, McMillion$, with new, exclusive interviews and stories that couldn't make it into the series. In March of 2001, Federal prosecutor Mark Devereaux cold-called Rob Holm, the head of security for McDonald's Corporation. Without explanation, Devereaux asked that Holm and several other McDonald's senior executives plan a visit to the Jacksonville, Florida, FBI, and tell no one about their intended destination. It wasn't up for discussion. Upon their arrival, Devereaux watched them closely, looking at body language, checking for tells. To him, they were all potential suspects. Once they were seated in an unremarkable conference room, sealed away in the hyper-secure FBI building, Devereaux began to lay out a shocking conspiracy, one that ran deep into McDonald's most beloved the Monopoly game. From 1989 to 2001, not a single winner of a high-value prize was legitimate. Instead, all were the courtesy of one man who brilliantly crafted a near-infallible nationwide conspiracy for fraud. Expanded from the wildly popular HBO docuseries with major new interviews, MCMILLIONS traces this massive crime, the intricate web of lies that bolstered it, and the tireless work of the FBI agents that unraveled it all. It is a story littered with families torn apart, betrayals, financial ruin, and one suspicious car crash. Yet, there are bright spots in the hijinks of the FBI agents and their co-conspirators. Ultimately, it is a story of what happens when the American dream goes very wrong.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Business, Audiobook, History, Pop Culture

336 pages, Hardcover

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few disclaimers up front. First, I did not see the McMillions documentary before I read this book so I went in totally fresh. Second, I worked at McDonald's as a teenager. What does that have to do with the book? Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to tell you.

The book McMillions is written by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte who were the producers/writers/directors of the documentary. If you don't know the backstory, then I have news for you. If you remember the McDonald's Monopoly game, then you of course remember how huge a deal it was. Well, turns out, you couldn't win. Not unless you were part of the conspiracy to steal the winning game pieces. (Childhood RUINED!)

The book is an easy read and interesting throughout with no dead spots in the narrative. The authors add dialogue whenever they can and the tone is light for the most part (side note: some dialogue may have been embellished, but my review copy did not have sources to directly verify so it might all come from transcripts). That does lead to a bit of tonally whiplash at times. There are some people whose lives were destroyed by this case and the authors treat their stories solemnly. However, the tone might veer quickly back to lighthearted. It's nothing fatal for the flow of the book, but it is noticeable.

The only thing which kept this from being a no-doubt five star book for me was the uneven coverage of some of the main characters. There is a woman who has a heartbreaking story and the authors give her some well-deserved focus in the middle of the book. However, she becomes more of a footnote after that as another character takes over the narrative. I would have liked a bit more time with a few people and for the timeline to stay a bit more linear. These are minor quibbles and should not make anyone shy away from picking this book up.

(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember the ads for the game, but I don’t remember the promo being stopped. I think it’s probably been over 30 years since I’ve been in a McDonald’s in the US (McDonald’s in India is a very different menu and so yummy!).

Definitely some unexpected twists and turns in the story. I can see a movie being made about this someday, if it hasn’t already. Apparently, it's a documentary on HBO (now MAX). One of these days, I'll get around to watching it.

I liked the book. It had moments of humor, and there was a good sequence laid out of how it all went down. Still, I wanted just a little bit more: more of the trial and more of the action in the McDonald's boardroom.

Feeling like the recent Texas lottery scandal. It's like they never learned as children that cheaters never win, and winners never cheat. I'm sure there are people who've gotten away with it, but I'd like to think most eventually get caught.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great big bouncy castle of a book that ricocheted all over the place, between deadly serious to fairy-tale fanciful conversations and emotions. It was these fabricated conversations that drastically shrank the believability of the authors’ portrayal of some of the participants. I also felt that some of the people involved were reduced to tropes, like the desperate single mother, and lost some of the authenticity of those people for me. We also didn’t get much of a resolution for many of the participants, or at least believable resolutions. I don’t think anyone reading this book would believe that someone who is offered, under the table, a winning game piece from an internationally-run game would believe this was legit and on the up-and-up. The excuse that “he didn’t finish grade nine so doesn’t know anything about real life” was hogwash. Oh well, that’s just me being tired of excuses for bad behaviour (taught high school for 24 years and have heard every excuse the universe could cough up) and blatantly willing gullibility.
The writing style was alternately closely written and ridiculously inflated and clichéd (someone was constantly “dropping a dime” to the point of sounding like an Archie and Jughead comic) with each succeeding chapter sounding like it had been written by a series of authors. I guess that added to the fun but again, detracted from the believability of the whole thing.
I was also a bit disappointed to find absolutely no photos in this book. So I’ll have to watch the HBO series somehow, which I certainly don’t mind because the book was a great deal of fun despite its faults and foibles. I’m also motivated to look into the vagaries of the US justice system, particularly in the matter of restitution after a crime. Why did Marvin, who fraudulently cashed in a $25,000 winning game piece, and received only half that as his share, have to pay $650,000 in restitution? Does that not seem drastic? Is that the norm in the US?
3 1/2 stars

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! I love a good fraud case. I really wish McDonald’s would bring monopoly back.

[Brandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

McMillions delves into the story of fraud behind McDonald’s Monopoly game, a scandal I wasn’t aware of prior to hearing about and then reading this book. ⁣
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It involved a family, deep promises and betrayals, and an unlikely duo of FBI agents who brought them down. The FBI was also the informant team, notifying corporate McDonald’s of this scandal. ⁣
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The audiobook production was fine, but not great — there were a lot of sharp, obvious transitions between not just the two narrators, but between their own sections as well. While it didn’t fully detract from my enjoyment of learning about this new-to-me story, it was noticeable enough to be worth mentioning.⁣
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McMillions was an entertaining ride and it kept me curious, wanting more details about the who, when, and how behind the crime — 3.5 stars

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I loved the six episode documentary series and was already very familiar with the story. If you haven’t watched it yet and don’t mind the writing style, you will really enjoy this book. It’s a fascinating and interesting story that’s worth your time. I preferred the show, but I’m sure there will be some who enjoy the book more.

My full thoughts:

The book has a very choppy, stiff writing style which makes sense given it’s written by documentary filmmakers. There are some really cringe things in it (“It slowed his roll” is actually said about someone) including a chapter where they make jokes about of a woman who appears to have OCD. It was an unnecessary aspect of the story for the author’s to focus on (she was not even the suspect, her husband was) and my main takeaway from that chapter was Doug Matthews could really act like an asshole and the authors here showed a total lack of sensitivity. It’s a small chapter, but including it was a mistake.

Moving in! The overuse of names in this was VERY distracting. It felt like they took the documentary transcript and just added in the full name of everyone every time they spoke which added up to a lot. They also switched between using full names (used the most), first names only and last names only which was unnecessarily confusing.

Example 1:
A.J. was easygoing and laid-back. His longtime friends would say that A.J. had always been the kind of guy people were drawn to. A.J. had something that made folks want to be around him. It was hard to describe other than to say that A.J. Glomb was cool.

Example 2:
If Rick Dent had been a fish, this would have been the moment that Mathews set the hook. Rick Dent took a deep breath. "We got something here,' Mathews said. "I think we really got something." Dent could see that, so far, Doug Mathews appeared to be correct.

It was very annoying, especially on audio where I was already annoyed (more on that below).

The book sticks VERY close to the documentary with little added to it. I know the forward mentioned this was a deeper dive, but I didn’t walk away feeling like I learned anything new. If you’ve seen the doc already I’d say skip this. The book felt like a transcript of the documentary, which would explain the over use of news and choppy style. I do want to stress though the story itself is fascinating, so I definitely recommend you either read this or watch the doc, which was really well done.

*A note on the audiobook* This was not great on audio - the authors narrate and it’s very awkward. One has a really strange cadence with odd timing, the other ends every single sentence in a raised voice making everything sound like a question… Everything. 🫠 I switched to the physical book at chapter 8 and it was better. Definitely recommend book/ebook version for this.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people will remember the McDonald’s monopoly game, but not many knew the intricacies of the FBI operation launched to uncover and unravel the fraud scheme behind it that made participation in the game virtually worthless. The varied cast of characters involved in this sprawling fraud could almost be taken directly from the pages of a dime store pulp fiction novel. The authors do a fine job of bringing all of this to life for the reader, and I found McMillions to be quite enjoyable.

[Elsa K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this audiobook and now want to watch the miniseries. It was fascinating!

[Best Show Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast-paced true crime. FBI. Mob. Fraud. Dead bodies. Monopoly. MCDONALD'S!! This book is based on the real-life fraud that America's favorite fast food conglomerate knew nothing about until an anonymous tip to the FBI and two unlikely agents took down a ring of criminals.

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

In McMillions, Hernandez and Lazarte, who had previously produced a 2020 6-part documentary on the same topic, discuss the McDonald's Monopoly fraud of the 1990s, where the grand million dollar and many other big ticket monetary prizes were improbably and repeatedly rigged by a group of individuals outside the McDonald's organization. One highly-placed individual in this group would walk off with the winning monopoly pieces, and with mafia help, would redistribute them to individuals within their social network who would then claim the prize money in geographically strategic locations (matching the locations where the winning pieces were supposed to have been distributed). Unfortunately for the individuals who agreed to be winners, the scheme organizers would demand cuts of the returns (full value, not deducting tax or allowing for the incremental payouts McDonald's would schedule for the big-ticket wins), proving that there is no such thing as a free lunch (pun intended).

I remember the McDonald's Monopoly years in my childhood -- I think the most I ever won was a free order of fries. I have no memory at the time of learning that the Monopoly game had been rigged and that there were no legitimate million dollar winners -- likely because the FBI sting went down shortly before 9/11/01 and public consciousness drifted elsewhere for many months afterward.

As far as the book, I found it engaging but also jarringly-written and oddly-narrated (I listened to the audiobook featuring a narrator who had the most bizarre cadence, talking LIKE THIS FOR SEVERAL words before randomly switching tone THROUGHOUT THE entire book). It felt like reading an action mystery's screenplay written for maximal drama (though the final "reveal" in the epilogue was quite anticlimactic), which was frustrating as a reader who was mostly interested in the facts and a linear story.

My statistics:
Book 214 for 2024
Book 1817 cumulatively

[Bronwyn Ceridwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining enough read, I would say, almost in spite of itself. The actual details of the McDonald's Monopoly fraud, the FBI investigation, and the ensuing court case were all fascinating. If anything, I would've appreciated more of the latter! However, I was less fond of how the authors chose to present the story almost like a novel at times, packed with (supposedly) snappy dialogue. By their own admission, some of these bits are actual recollections by the people involved, whereas others are merely the authors imagining what could've been said behind closed doors. The problem is that there's no obvious differentiation made between the two, giving the whole thing a muddy quality that makes it feel less fact-based than I'd hope. Less "absolutely true story" and more "based on a true story", if you get my drift.

Being a horrible pedant even at the best of times, I also kept getting sidetracked by small factual errors that had nothing to do with the actual subject of the book. Basic, common knowledge stuff like referring to the most expensive Monopoly property as "Boardwalk Avenue", or the bizarre assertion that the Shamrock Shake is "just a vanilla shake with green coloring". (As someone who loves vanilla and abhors mint, I can attest that IT SO ISN'T.) If the authors couldn't even bother to fact check such minor trivia, stuff that would've taken all of five seconds to Google, how can I blindly trust that they got all the details of this complex criminal scheme correct?

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read about the true story of the McDonald's Monopoly game and how no one ever won anything. Wait. No one ever won anything? Yeah, I didn't know that either until I picked up this book. Maybe a few people in the early years did, but for the most part, the majority of the time, no one won anything. And this book explains how and why. There was a fraud ring going on, with one man who had the prize-winning pieces, all of them! And if he liked you, hed would give you a Monopoly piece, maybe for a car, maybe for a million dollars. But there was a catch (there's always a catch). Going off of one very small tip, the FBI put together a case that eventually ensnared 50 people, and sent many of them to prison. This is that story. Put together all nice and neat like a Happy Meal.

The one thing I didn't like about this book is that I felt like it left some stuff out. Like how long Uncle Jerry went to prison for. Whether he confessed right away or did he resist arrest? Some of these juicy details were missing that I wanted to know about. So for that reason, I can only give this book four stars. This is still a great, fun true crime book. I enjoyed reading it. It has a goofy rookie FBI agent who apparently existed to provide comic relief for the rest of his colleagues.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 star rating.

Full disclosure: Watched the documentary before finding this book in the Library

This book details the McDonald's Monopoly fraud case, forgotten due the 9/11 terror attacks. The case starts with an office post-it note and comes full circle with highlight of life after the prosecution of those involved.

Definitely would put this in the Non-Fiction novel category, which probably appeals to more people, it isn't my favorite genre. That said, I could see this book being a gateway to non-fiction for those fiction readers. The narrative pretty closely follows and is pretty much the print version of the HBO documentary series "McMillions," that was created by the writers.

Hernandez & Lazarte encourage the reader to watch the documentary and listen to the podcast regarding the case in addition to this book. While I typically agree with this sediment as the three media bring different breath to a topic, I disagree in this case. This account added nothing more, potentially less, than the documentary itself. In addition, the book was full of dialogue, which immediately was off-putting, as it was never clear what was imagined or what was part of the record (and in that case from whom). By the end, the flair and fluff began to get to me.

[Steve Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime story about the rigging of the McDonald's Monopoly marketing game. Fascinating insights into the investigation that only started based on an anonymous tip on the FBI hotline; without which the crime would never have been detected or investigated. Good insight into the mechanics of the "cheat". Solid background stories of many of the co-conspirators, some of whom were duped into breaking the law. Narrative is crisp; it keeps you reading with just the right amount of detail. Solid story. Also an HBO mini-series documentary that I plan to watch. Enjoyed it - very entertaining!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild ride! The fact that the McDonalds Monopoly game fraud went along for so long and involved so many people is to me, why it all came crashing down. The whole story is fascinating and this is a great read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no clue this happened. I remember the Monopoly contest growing up and just remember it disappearing. I always wondered who really won these things, and this makes a lot of sense. How crazy of a scheme this was!

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scintillating read! Like a 6 pack of McNuggets, once you start, you won’t be able to put it down until you’re done.

[Carol Haile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about the scam during McDonald’s Monopoly game.

[Beth Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly fun romp that is full of 90’s nostalgia for me with remembering that game and how invested I’d get. Fascinating to see how one white lie wrecked so many lives. Great nom fiction

[Colleen S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Interesting story! I had no idea this had happened. The writing was a bit lacking but it was alright.

[Erin Houck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story.

[Georgann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! I love the writing style - written with humor and compassion and the many characters were easily identifiable. Many thanks to the non-fiction book club at my local library or I would never have read this gem!

[Bill reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

McMillions is an amazing story. It is based on a TV documentary and after just finishing it, I will seek out the series.
I have not eaten at a McDonald's in many years but I do recall the Monopoly contest which awarded prizes, topping off at a cool million dollars(paid over the course of twenty years). Of course a diet of Big Macs would likely kill off the winners in under that time period.
A company was hired to run the contest and an evil genius by the name of Jerome Jacobson figured out a method to rig the outcome of the game. His partner in crime is the most colorful character, a man with Mafia ties named Jerry Colombo of the notorious mob family. The two Jerrys made deals with third parties in order to collect the winnings in exchange for a split.
A single phone call to the FBI got the ball rolling and the author's storytelling chops are entertaining, with enough funny moments to keep the reader engaged throughout. The cast of gullible people looking for a quick buck is a reminder of how easily we can be tempted by one of the seven deadly sins, avarice.
Do not miss this remarkable book.

[Nočnica · Rating 3 out of 5]

So here’s the book version of the delightful docuseries “McMillions,” describing how a single trusted security exec stole all the high value winning game pieces from McDonald’s Monopoly themed sweepstakes for over a decade. In between you’ve got mobsters, airline stewardesses, a single mom who won a house in a church raffle, a Mormon savant who made a million in plastics, an FBI agent with ADHD who lives his life by a “fun-o-meter,” and an outdoor confetti cannon going off in the living room of an obsessive neat freak. Quite a yarn!

Sadly amateurish writing brings this tale down a few points from the chaotic glee it promises. The authors, Hernandez and Lazarte, are often unsure who they have sympathy with, and choose to retell some rather tall tales about kids picked on “every day” because “your dad stole from Ronald McDonald.” When it comes to prose writing, it’s a plodding and unimaginative style that fails to do the story justice. Bullies circle a school kid like, you guessed it, sharks.

In one particularly clunky sentence a young excitable g-man tries to get his senior partner to pursue the wild story of McDonald’s Monopoly fraud (to paraphrase) “if [the agent] had been a fisherman, this would have been the moment he baited the hook”

For audiobook listeners, poor production further mars the experience. The authors read the work (this is always a surprising decision to me once I learned you can get a professional actor for a few grand), and they’re badly dis-served by a producer who never chimed in to say “no need to pause with every sentence.” The result sounds like a laundry list read by Mark Zuckerberg. Other problems are unavoidable in a “read by the author” production: the authors are never sure if they should be performing quotations or not, and their rendition of a black mother’s dialogue is a bit of a howler. The authors switch off every chapter for no particular reason. The final result sounds like a rushed group project.

The story is a page turner and the author’s reporting deserves a lot of credit! Their docuseries is fantastic and this book does add some fun details, including a few brief glances behind the camera as the producers discover at the very last minute the identity of the informant who brought the scheme to the FBI’s attention. Worth a read if you can see past is amateurish production.

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the makers of the docuseries also called "McMillions" comes a book that includes more detail and interviews. I had only had a chance to watch one episode (I have a huge list of stuff I want to see!) and I will definitely go back and watch the whole series now. I absolutely loved this book. I could not put it down. As I read, I kept envisioning a fictional version of this and was casting it in my mind -- I was drawing on the cast from the film "The Informant" and kept seeing Scott Bakula and Matt Damon in starring roles. The twist with this book and series is that it is about greed -- but not corporate greed, rather a bunch of individuals who were able to use their positions to influence friends and acquaintances to get in on the deal (of course the ringmasters got a huge cut for this favor). We learn how the fraud was committed - a head of security at the Marketing Firm hired by McDonald's to run their Monopoly Game, found a way to steal and replace the winning tiles. The take down happened on August 19, 2001 (and almost got revealed when a fax went to a newspaper instead of the local FBI office!) but as history reminds us, this huge headline-grabbing saga got wiped off the front pages by 9/11. One thing I did not realize is that the individuals who were in on the fraud, had to pay full restitution for the $1 million even though their payments from McDonalds were annual - so not only did they never see the money, they in most cases had to prepay the mobster at the heart of it -- and of course, they were left to pay the taxes on it too. Just an absolute fun read with humor on how the FBI infiltrated the network. Note -- if something sounds too good to be true - it probably is! Remarkably a few of the individuals in their gut knew something did not seem right about the scheme but they went along with it anyway.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

[Sharon Ramsamooj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book via a Goodreads giveaway and here's my honest review.

I loved the book! I read it in 2 days, so it was a quick read and captivating! All the characters were super interesting! I could picture what they looked like and understand what motivated them.

I did not see the documentary mini series so this was all new to me. I vaguely remember hearing about the McDonald's Monopoly game fraud but really didn't remember much of the details from the news so all of this was fresh to me and fascinating. The descriptions of all these characters and style of writing left me engaged and wondering what would happen next.

I loved that Monopoly game! All I ever won were some free fries or drinks when I would play it. No wonder! Now I am going to research online and look at the story to learn even more about the history. The book left me wanting to know even more, even though it did wrap up everything neatly with a good summary, including follow-up of the characters. I live in Florida and had no idea about the FBI and Jacksonville and all the connections.

The chapters were easy to follow with the way the timeline was explained and it didn't jump around or leave me confused at all, despite having so many "players". I would recommend!!

[Katee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the HBO Max series of the same name, McMillion$ follows the decades long fraud of the McDonalds Monopoly game. I hadn't watched the documentary series before reading this book and I'm glad I didn't. Having now consumed a few episodes of the series, I can say I liked the book more. There is more information in the book than in the series. I also liked the formatting of the book vs. how it was portrayed for streaming. The book follows a more linear format whereas the series jumps around a little bit more. I think each format works for the way it's telling the story. I don't mind when stories jump around in fiction, but for nonfiction it makes it harder to read. Keeping with a linear format, the novelization of this story allowed readers to see the story as the FBI agents were finding out information. In addition to the fraud case, I learned a lot about McDonalds that I didn't know before and was giving little tidbits to my husband as I read.

I'm a true crime fan and this is different than others things I've read lately, but in the best possible way.

Thank you to Grand Central Pub for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for choosing me.

I admit I had no idea there was a series about this case, nor did I know it had even happened before reading this book. I will also admit I was captivated from beginning to end. It's a book with a lot of information and a ton of names that you should pay attention to so that it doesn't confuse you. It's not overwhelming or ridiculously long. The chapters are kept fairly short, and the book is well written.

I don't think it was a victimless crime, but I'm not sure I agree that McDonalds pay anything to anyone. It wasn't their fault. They worked with the FBI, and it doesn't seem right for them to have to pay out just because people feel cheated (that's just my opinion). Sure, it sucks to know you could've won and didn't, but there was never any guarantee that you would win anyway. I definitely believe most people who read this book will enjoy it. I don't see how you couldn't unless you're out there trying to run the same or similar type of scam.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a roller coaster ride, this book.

I remember when this case first hit the news. Over the years I played the McD’s Monopoly game, I’d see the promo pieces for the big winners, and they always seemed to come from the South. Ah--there was a Florida man with a plan? Now I get it.

Even though the broad strokes of the case were already familiar, I was surprised at how many people were involved. There was at least one genuine mobster, some mob-ettes, several opportunists who considered it a victimless crime, and a couple of unfortunate people who got swept up in the tidal wave and couldn’t extricate themselves.

It was concerning that the FBI went after the little fish-- at least one of whom was given a literal offer she couldn’t refuse-- with the same fervor as they went after the guy with mafia ties.

Someone absolutely must find more information about Jerry’s plans for the bags of M&M’s in his freezer (linked to the Imposter promo in 1997), and his plans to infiltrate the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes. The guy dreamed big.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people may have forgotten the wildly popular McDonald's Monopoly promotional game that was run from the 1980s through 2000. Most may not know about the fraud that ended the game. When I came across this book, I assumed it would explain which McDonalds officials perpetrated the fraud. The truth is much more interesting. You will have to read to book to find out why.

The book is based on the author's HBO miniseries. I generally am not a fan of books based on documentaries and podcasts. I may be traditional, but I think the book should preceded the podcast or miniseries. The book is fun (if that can be applied to true crime). It is fast paced and engaging. On the downside no index. I am not a fan of non-fiction books with no index. Secondly, while the top prize winners were profiled there was little reference to other people involved. An appendix with a summary of the other prizes that were given out under the fraud and the crimes committed would have rounded out the book.

All in all, this a a great book and a fast read on a crime that ended one of the hottest advertising promotions of the 1990s. It is worth the read.