Golden Illusion: A Novel

by James J. Murray

Billions in gold bullion have disappeared from a Texas precious metals depository, yet the staff doesn’t remember that happening.
There are no clues left behind and people start dying.
Jon Masters and his investigative team are tasked with finding answers. Can they unravel the mystery of these heists before the thieves empty the vaults?
Jon Masters faces his greatest challenge as he partners with his cyber sleuth friend Ed Ochoa and ex-homicide detective Benny Galluzzo to solve the crime of the century.
When ex-NSA Chief Colonel Reese arrives at Jon’s investigative agency desperately seeking his help, Jon and his team must achieve the impossible to discover how so much gold can vanish without a trace or anyone knowing.
They must not only find those responsible but also learn why staff are being murdered one by one.
The team’s lives are at great risk after an assassination attempt and they soon realize that there will be national security and international implications if the thieves achieve their goals.

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2025

About the author

James has experience in both pharmaceutical manufacturing and clinical patient management. Medications and their impact on a patient’s quality of life has been his expertise. His secret passion of murder and mayhem, however, is a whole other matter. An obsession with reading murder mysteries and thrillers left him longing to weave such tales of his own. Drawing on past clinical expertise as a pharmacist and an infatuation with the lethal effects of drugs, James creates short stories and novels that will have you looking over your shoulder and suspicious of anything in your medicine cabinet.

Reviews

[S.S. Saywack · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and the best of the Jon Masters’ series. If you liked the two others this one you’ll definitely like. The stakes are as high as before, just add a few billion dollars to it this time around. A well-plotted novel that shows the author is finely versed in his subject. There are plot twists galore, as to be expected, and while we soon know who one part of the bad guys are, the other part comes as a surprise. But the usual characters are back to lead us through the complications. Read and enjoy. It’s a feast.

[Tracey Gerrard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one for the TV.
Billions of dollars of gold and silver bullion are going missing from Lone Star Depository, and Jon Masters and his team are called in to investigate who is behind the disappearance of such a huge amount. Are they up for the job? You bet they are, but it won’t be an easy task.
Golden Illusion by James J Murray had me gripped from the beginning. It is well-written with lots of twists and turns. But what made it more engrossing for me were the three main characters. Jon, Ed and Benny make for one hell of a team. The dialogue between them runs seamlessly, and it’s easy to tell they are long-time friends. Their individual skills are brought into action (ex special forces, a tech-savvy mind and a crime fighter) and I could easily see this as a TV series. Great storyline, amazing characters, and I loved it. Highly recommend!

[Mark Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billions of dollars of gold disappear from a super-secure, high tech Texas depository where the ultra-rich store their fortunes. And it's not just the gold; the records are gone too. It's as if the gold never existed. How is this possible?
That is the question for Jon Masters and his team of investigators including cyber expert Ed Ochoa and former homicide cop Benny Galluzzo (Don't call her "little lady.") in James J. Murray's magnetic mystery, Golden Illusion.
If you, like me, don't happen to have billions in precious metals, Golden Illusion is a fascinating and fun read. It isn't about the acquisition of untold riches but rather the securing of them in facilities with multiple layers of physical, electronic and digital security. When the elaborate system is somehow breached, Masters' team is summoned by a one-time NSA station chief to get to the bottom of it with the added restriction that the investigation must remain private lest depositors start panicking.
Starting with the most mundane of clues, the investigators take us along on a search dealing not just with money but also murder with a side trip into another arcane world: artificial intelligence, a subject I barely comprehend (so you can be assured that I, and not it, wrote this review.)
Fabulous riches, super security, murder and AI in settings from Texas to the United Arab Emirates. Sounds like an impossible jumble but somehow Murray pulls it off in a tough-to-put-down tale.

[Lucas W Mayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a few years since the events of the last book and Jon now owns and runs his own investigation agency, Core Investigations, with his friends Ed and Benny. Life is going swimmingly for them until, Lloyd, an old friend from Ed’s NSA days asks them for help to solve a rather perplexing mystery. At the gold depository that he works at someone is stealing precious materials but nobody knows how and furthermore nobody remembers it ever happening. With Ed’s hacking skills and Jon and Benny’s investigative abilities they get embroiled in a complex and dangerous web where the worlds of government cyber agencies, AI, assassinations and worldwide company trading and banking all collide in one thrilling read. There is a great deal of suspense and intrigue as Jon and his team try to find out who is behind the thefts but when people start showing up dead it’s a race against time before an attempt is made on one of their lives too. As with the previous books this is a nerve wrecking and heart pounding thriller with a fast paced writing style. It will stay me with a long time especially now that I know what AI can be capable off. That is a little disconcerting.

[Sarah Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping!

This isn't the first book I have read by this author and I guarantee it won't be the last.
Mr Murray has weaved another excellent crime thriller that had me eagerly turning those pages.
We join Jon Masters on his next investigation with his partners Ed and Benny in what is my favourite story yet.
Billions of dollars worth of gold and silver is going missing from a private Depository firm in a small Texas town and Jon and his team are hired by Colonal Reece to quietly find out what the hell is going on and how.
What follows is a fantastically written crime drama that is gripping and suspenseful. Full of twists and turns, danger and more. If you are a fan of Mr Murrays work, or just a well researched character driven crime drama, I would strongly recommend adding this to your read list. James Murray just keeps hitting the mark. Highly recommended.

[Jeanette Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of these Jon Masters stories I’ve read. It’s brilliant. I admit to a certain amount of being brain scrambled by all the technical computer stuff, but I understand enough to enable me to know what was going on and to appreciate it.
Jon, Ed and Benny seem to have an impossible task before them – just exactly how is billions of dollars’ worth of gold bullion being stolen from an extremely secure vault without anyone in the facility being aware of it? But with Ed and his computer genius, together with the investigative minds of Jon and Benny, nothing is quite as impossible as it seems.
This is a high-powered story, the outcome of which is fascinating. Seems I need to read books one and two!

[Gail McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Technical Tour de Force
The multi-layered technical details in this book drew me in and caught me up in moments of looking up from the book, gazing at the ceiling, and mumbling, “What the …?” I loved the experience of deliberating each savory clue, however mystifying, throughout the novel and was gratified with the conclusion that satisfied and surprised me. There’s a great dynamic going on among the well-defined character here also that kept my emotions engaged. This is the first of the Jon Masters series I’ve read even though it’s the third book. It succeeds as a standalone read and sparked my interest in reading the preceding books. James J. Murray delivers in believable and intriguing suspense plots that will have you flipping pages for more. Bravo!

[Karen Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is real, and what is not?
That’s not exactly how Shakespeare posed the question, but it’s certainly what Jon Masters and his excellent investigative team must face.

In Golden Illusion, almost nothing is as it seems—not even the memories of those undergoing lie detection tests. Beyond the complex and compelling crime mystery, with its satisfying conclusion, readers are also treated to fascinating tech and AI elements, as well as a vivid journey from Texas to the UK to the United Arab Emirates.

I especially appreciated how the investigative threads were discovered, untangled, unraveled, sometimes disappearing altogether—until finally, the center of it all is revealed.

[Beverley Latimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a real masterpiece. The author has obviously researched his subject, to have written what is an incredible read. Although some of the modern technology used in the story had my head in a spin, it took nothing away from it at all.
I could imagine this book being made into a blockbuster movie, due to its dynamic characters, and the unexpected twists and turns, that leads to a jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching, and breathtaking conclusion.
Very well done, James Murray. Another winning novel. Five-stars!

[Marcia Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jon Masters, Ed Ochea and ex-detective, Benny Galluzzo have their work cut out when they are tasked with finding out how billions of gold bullion have disappeared from a Texas metal depository. There are virtually no clues, the staff don’t remember seeing anything untoward, and people are dying! There is precious little to go on, but the trio are determined to solve the case and prevent any further murders. The book is well-written and displays the author's extensive research and knowledge of the subject. It is the first book I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[D.G. Torrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author weaves a masterful and skilful story that kept me turning the pages. Gold and silver disappears from a private depositary in Texas. Jon masters is called in to investigate. Jon, Benny and Ed have a difficult task ahead of them, however, they are determined to get to the bottom of it. Their individual skill sets are about to come into force throughout this intense case. It suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat gripping! The characters are well developed and the story engaging throughout. Highly recommended read.

[Beth Hildenbrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

James J Murray is golden with this one!
When the team at Core Investigations is called in by an old military friend they have no idea how deep they will have to go to find the truth.
The Colonel tells Jon Masters that gold is missing from an Uber secure facility and needs their help to find the culprits before the investors get wind of the situation.
Guards are suffering memory loss and dying in strange accidents.
It's a non stop ride to catch the thieves. Imaginative, fun, gritty. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!

[Shirley Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so impressed with all the investigative research that went into writing this book. The enormous amount of information about precious metals vaults and especially cybersecurity is woven into a intricate plot. Those who have read the previous Jon Masters books will revel in this new offering. I'm going to recommend this book to my IT analyst son, he'll love it, and I highly recommend Golden Illusions to anyone who enjoys a complex, hi-tech mystery.

[A.J. SAUNDERS · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read, where the authors captures our attention from the very first pages.
What’s this mystery Jon, Ed, and Benny have to solve?
Gold disappears – no witnesses – nothing on security cameras – no forged documents…
The team admits they need a miracle, but when they dig deeper, they ask themselves a very important question – what if the deaths of the security personnel are linked to the disappearing gold?
Read to find out…

[Tom Leverett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I am not generally a fan of corporate, big-money, rich-Texan culture, I found myself liking this book just because it was well put-together, and unfolded naturally, drawing me in. One can understand how, dealing with all that gold, some might just want some of it for themselves. It's a slick crime novel about a slick crime, very clever, and hard to guess who the bad guy is until almost everyone else is dead.

[Petar Kostadinov · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is a great read. love the story and i see a potential to being a screen tv and movie. I first was not able to understand what was happening and had to read it again. that is why my delay of this review. You will not regret it if you took a chance on it.

[Eleanor Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several books by this author. Each one is as good as the next!
When a ton of gold goes missing in a well-secured facility, someone has to figure out what happened to it without winding up dead in the process!
Well-thought out and researched novel!

[Markus Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling detective reading

Jon and Benny probably didn’t realise the tangled web they were about to uncover when they take on what appears to be a simple job of uncovering gold theft along with tech wiz Ed aiding them. It’s a story that compelled me to find out what was about to develop with every page, highly recommend