The Master Builders: A Riley King Mystery

by Richard Neer

Is the system rigged so that only thieves reap rewards, while honest hardworking folks get the shaft? Johnny "The Snake" Serpente is a former Brooklyn mobster, a ruthless sociopath who's made a fortune building public housing using banned toxic materials that will endanger his tenants' health for generations. He has a stunning trophy wife who cheats on him indiscriminately. Builder Derek Davis has lost everything on a visionary project that would change the way America lives and is reduced to doing odd jobs to survive. To add to his woes, he's been beaten senseless ---likely on Serpente's orders in retaliation for an imaginary affair with his wife. His best friend, private investigator Riley King, uncovers Serpente's corruption and is determined to make him pay. As a side benefit, he intends to bed the man's seductive spouse. A fast-paced thriller, The Master Builders will keep you guessing from Page One.

390 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2016

Reviews

[Kevin]

The second installment of the Riley King series by Richard Neer adds some depth to the recurring characters and provides a new setting for the events. The new characters are interesting if a bit two-dimensional and are all disposed of by book's end so that they will likely not reappear in any future episodes. The plot is intriguing and Neer succeeds in steering the reader in different directions although the final reveal is very sudden and not very much subject to being figured out based on the sparse clues throughout the story. But the main plot is nevertheless interesting, as well as the sub-plot of whether Riley will or won't give in to the temptations of the lovely Christine. In the end it's a good beach/airplane read with a story and characters you care enough about to want to get to the end. Neer's writing and vocabulary are pretty good, although copy editing for the final text could have been better. Very much worth the special Kindle price!