Blood Money

by Anne Cassidy

Sixteen year-olds, Jaz, Bobby and Jack find themselves caught up in a web of greed and deceit when they steal a bag containing thirty thousand pounds from the local mafia boss in their town, Mickey Duck. It all started when Mickey, raided by the police and taken for questioning, leaves his back door wide open ...inside an ordinary-looking Nike bag has been forgotten about. Before they know what they've done, Jaz, and her mates are walking away with the money, with a plan to hide it in Jaz's gran's empty house and then split it three ways in six months' time. But when some of the money goes missing and Bobby and Jack start behaving oddly, Jaz begins to doubt their loyalty. Bobby is her childhood friend, but maybe he has secrets of his own, just like her, and Jack, who've been secretly going out together for months ...Jack is now receiving cryptic phone calls, spending more time on his own, away from Jaz. Then Bobby is blackmailed for a share of the money - GBP 10,000. Jaz is convinced it's a hoax, worse still, that Bobby has made it up. Paranoid, she replaces some of the money with chopped up newspaper. It's not a hoax, and Bobby is badly beaten up. When he recovers, he tells Jack and Jaz that he wants nothing more to do with them, or the money, which just leaves the two of them. Their relationship is floundering under the strain of hiding the money, and a mistrust has crept up between them. Jaz finds out that Jack has another life, another girlfriend - he's been lying to her for years. Furious and betrayed, Jaz sets fire to the money in front of him - only it's not the real money - which is safely up in her gran's loft, ready for a rainy day. She's lost her friends, and her self-respect, she may as well buy herself some more ...

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Rants and Bants · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. It was trying to get across the message that money can make people greedy and selfish, which would be a good message, but the characters were like that on their own. It wasn’t the money, it was them. I don’t know how the money was even connected to most of their problems, that they probably would've had even without the main money plot. I kind of have always had an issue with the whole “money is the root of all evil” thing anyway, and the demonization of money—something most people literally need to live. It’s people who make bad decisions, the money doesn’t make you do anything. Same with guns. But anyhow.

All the characters were pretty unlikeable. Jack was the worst He cheated on Jaz, lied to her face several times, and actually tried to get back together with her afterwards. Jaz just kept making stupid decision after stupid decision, the biggest one being irresponsibly leaving the money up in her grandma’s attic even after her parents had held her funeral there, knowing full well that they were cleaning things out and that there were several people in and out of the house. Side note, how the hell is ‘Jaz’ a nickname for Janice??? Bobby was probably the most tolerable out of the three, but he became a disappointment too when it was found out that he actually did take the money out of petty revenge for Jaz and Jack going out without him knowing about it. I never understood why that was even an issue—do they need his permission to date each other? Are people not allowed to date anymore? That whole “conflict” made no sense, because I don’t know why it was a conflict to begin with.

The ending and the whole story itself was pretty underwhelming, for something called “Blood Money”. I expected it to be more intense and for there to be much more of a climax. I’m not saying it had to be blood and guts, but all it really was was teenage drama and petty behavior. It felt more like a soap opera rather than a mystery novel which is I think what it was supposed to be. Anne Cassidy is a great author, but this wasn’t her best work. =/

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but a bit slow in places.

* Jaz, Jack, and Bobby find a suitcase full of money after a man is arrested and taken from a house.
* Bobby doesn't want to touch the money, but Jack and Jaz take it anyway.
* The money ends up in Jaz's grandma's loft.
* Jack, Jaz, and Bobby have a row, and Bobby says he doesn't want the money. Jaz suspects Bobby of stealing some of the money from her loft.
* Jaz finds out that Jack has been cheating on her with a girl called Penny. She fake burns the money, and keeps what's left for herself.
* Jaz's grandma dies (while she's burning the money), and Jaz realises that she now has no friends and no grandma.
* Jaz's parents find the money in the loft, and obviously assume it's Jaz's grandmothers. Now Jaz has no friends, no grandmother, and no money.
- This was okay, but felt slow in places.
- Bobby was the one who nicked the money 🙄
- I was glad that Jaz wasn't stupid enough to go back to Jack in the end.
- Bobby seemed to be on a different planet by the end.
- It was so bloody obvious that the money was going to be found and that it would be assumed that it was Jaz's Grandma's!
- How freaking stupid are her parents? They were just going to take the money to the bank? With no thought to how dodgy it would look turning up with £27K cash?? Like nobody would question where that came from??

[lalaloopsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All that for a mediocre ending 😒

[MK · Rating 2 out of 5]

This did have a twist in it that I didn't see coming, I'll say that. But none of the characters are particularly interesting or root-able.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the book was very patchy. There were chapters of intense excitement and others of pure boredom. The book was enjoyable but I felt that Cassidy could of maintained the suspense. For any readers who enjoy secretacy and paranoia this is the book for you. The characters were very simple and easily relatable. I felt that emotionally attached to the characters and also I felt concerned. The message of this book is a good one; it is a very quick read.

[Sumaiya Sultana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very predictable. There are some chapters of intense excitement and others of complete boredom. Anne Cassidy should've maintained the suspense throughout the whole book. The characters were very simple and easily relatable.
However, this book has a strong moral message and the message of this book is very good. This is a quick-read book.

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very predictable but alright generally =/

[Vanessa Bailey]

Even though this short story is predictable, it has a strong moral message behind it. This in my opinion makes it a must read for many young people out there.

[Jeff Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Anne Cassidy fare, good writing and well paced. She knows her subject and audience.