As a welfare kid who grew up in the streets, Randy Rush had to fight for everything he got and knew what it was like to struggle. So, when he was suddenly handed $50 million in tax free money, he vowed to use his new-found wealth to help others. But what he didn’t see coming was Jeremy Crawford.
In his gripping, adrenaline-packed memoir, Rush takes readers on his rocket-fueled journey after a trip to the corner grocer to buy food for his beloved cat, Conway Kitty, leads to the discovery that he has won Canada’s $50 million Lotto Max jackpot.
Soaring on a seemingly endless endorphin high, Rush spends the months following his win traveling, feeding his passion for rare sports cars, considering charitable causes, and splurging on friends — paying off their debts and even giving them a free place to stay in million-dollar homes. But his world comes crashing down when he discovers that Dave Crawford, a man he loved like an older brother and had generously provided for, has served him up to his con artist son, Jeremy — who scams Rush out of nearly $5 million.
Reeling from Dave’s betrayal and fueled by the discovery that the Crawfords are serial con artists who have devastated the lives of more than a hundred others, Rush embarks on a mission to take his adversaries down. But as his quest for justice drags on, his festering rage reaches a boiling point and he is faced with a choice: Let the Crawford’s cons destroy him, or re-focus his attention on doing good in the world and enjoying the enormous gift he has been given.
Randy Rush is on a mission to stop white collar crime and other social injustices by exposing them to the world. He recently founded Rantanna Media, a mission-driven publishing and production company, to give victims a voice and raise widespread awareness about the devastating impact of these crimes. Randy is also committed to transforming the lives of children in Africa by providing them the education, love and hope they need to succeed.
He divides his time between Canada and Europe. For more information, visit www.randall-rush.com.
I was happy to get a chance to read this book, since I have a late family member, who was also a "big winner" of a half a million dollars from Sports Proline and I knew, what he went through. The endless phone calls from people asking for money. He was bothered so much, that he gave away all his winnings within a week, helping his immediate family. One bleak winter night, Randy Rush went out to buy his beloved cat some food. At the store, he decided to check his lottery tickets and discovered that he won 50 million dollars! Randy had always dreamed of winning a million and would fantasize, what he would do with his winnings. He would help some friends, indulge in his passion for sports cars, invest in some real estate and donate to charities. So, he put his dream plans into action. What he didn't bargain for was, that it would be one of his best friends and their family, one, who he considered the father, that he never had, growing up with a single mother and an absent, for the most part, father, would scam him! This is the story of his legal battle to regain his money. I really enjoyed this book. Randy had a rough life growing up and he managed to turn himself around, have a successful job, but no family so to speak of, to share his life with. After he won the lottery, he wanted to do the most good with his wealth, while keeping a bit for his own hobby, in which he could now indulge. We see how his character grows, with each new obstacle to solve. People, who love animals as much as Randy does, are blessed in many ways, not just moneywise. I hope he finds a family of his own to share his wealth and life with!
I thought this was a wonderfully crafted cautionary tale about what happens when people prey on the good-hearted. Having come into a large sum of money, Randy does what most would do - help those he cares about, does some charity giving, splurges a little on himself, and invests in people. Even those he thought he could trust disappointed him, but did not change his resolve to help others. A worthwhile read.
Having worked in the financial sector for 28 years, I have been interested in monetary fraud for some time.
This book is a man who wins a $50 million lottery (tax free in Canada) and falls victim to fraud due to the son of a trusted friend to the tune of $5,000,000.
Interesting story. Writing style is as if he is talking to a friend. Easy to follow until it gets into some of the legal aspects. He provides lots of background to his life which helped create his persona. He also gives great insight into his life after the fraud.
The book provides great evidence that winning a lottery is not always the answer to your prayers, no matter his diligent you try to be. And, money is not the answer to everything.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.
'13 Billion to One' is not only a memoir but a cautionary tale in the most unadulterated sense. At the beginning of 2015, Randy Rush was just a normal guy. After growing up poor and surviving on welfare, Randy suffered some difficult setbacks in his 20's and ended up having to move back in with his parents. But, after managing to get back on his feet and find work in an equipment rental agency, he cleaned up his life.
That was, until he won 50 million dollars in the Canadian lottery. Saying that Randy's life changed suddenly is a bit of an understatement, I think most of us would struggle to imagine the shock of suddenly winning such a large amount of money when you only left the house to pick up cat food. Of course, money like that can bring out the criminal in people. Randy quickly found out who his real friends were and who was kissing up to him for a taste of the wealthy lifestyle. Particularly, the son of a friend who convinced Randy to invest in his tech start up, only to later turn out to be a scam.
Randy, who comes across as a very nice and personable guy, had never experienced betrayal like that. The memoir goes on to show his process through the courts trying to get his money back and the eventual beginnings of his crusade to help fight white-collar crime.
This book was a very enjoyable reading experience for me, as I absolutely love memoirs and this story was a doozy. From the opening pages, where Randy wins the money to the eventual betrayal by his friend, I was hooked! This guy has lead a pretty unbelievable life and has quite the story to tell from it. He also goes on to help a charity in Africa that educates children. After visiting a charity run grade school he decides he wants to help in a big way and builds a high school. There is also some lighter laugh out loud moments, from now on Meeka’s canned cat food will be called “premium soft-serve.” That is what Randy calls his cat, Conway Kitty’s, cat food. I highly recommend this excellent book!
Merged review:
'13 Billion to One' is not only a memoir but a cautionary tale in the most unadulterated sense. At the beginning of 2015, Randy Rush was just a normal guy. After growing up poor and surviving on welfare, Randy suffered some difficult setbacks in his 20's and ended up having to move back in with his parents. But, after managing to get back on his feet and find work in an equipment rental agency, he cleaned up his life.
That was, until he won 50 million dollars in the Canadian lottery. Saying that Randy's life changed suddenly is a bit of an understatement, I think most of us would struggle to imagine the shock of suddenly winning such a large amount of money when you only left the house to pick up cat food. Of course, money like that can bring out the criminal in people. Randy quickly found out who his real friends were and who was kissing up to him for a taste of the wealthy lifestyle. Particularly, the son of a friend who convinced Randy to invest in his tech start up, only to later turn out to be a scam.
Randy, who comes across as a very nice and personable guy, had never experienced betrayal like that. The memoir goes on to show his process through the courts trying to get his money back and the eventual beginnings of his crusade to help fight white-collar crime.
This book was a very enjoyable reading experience for me, as I absolutely love memoirs and this story was a doozy. From the opening pages, where Randy wins the money to the eventual betrayal by his friend, I was hooked! This guy has lead a pretty unbelievable life and has quite the story to tell from it. He also goes on to help a charity in Africa that educates children. After visiting a charity run grade school he decides he wants to help in a big way and builds a high school. There is also some lighter laugh out loud moments, from now on Meeka’s canned cat food will be called “premium soft-serve.” That is what Randy calls his cat, Conway Kitty’s, cat food. I highly recommend this excellent book!
This was a fun book to read especially if you have ever dreamed about winning the lottery. And Randy does just that. He donates extensively to his favorite charities and is very generous with his friends and family. Subsequently, some of his friends are not satisfied with their generous gifts and want more! Unfortunately he tries to manage his money (50 million) by himself instead employing the aid of a financial advisor. And to make matters worse, he gets entangled in a bad business deal. The book is not a work of fiction, but a true story. I enjoyed Randy’s writing style and I would love if there was a sequel!
My partner and I speculate on what we would do if we won the lottery. No, of course, we have no written down our plans. Who does that anyway, when the odds are so out of whack?
Randy Rush thought he had a pretty good idea what he would do if he won the lottery. He had worked his way out of poverty and was bringing in a good salary. He had the hard-won street smarts to keep from being taken advantage of. So, of course, not much would change. He would help out good friends, contribute to worthwhile causes, and give himself an upscale lifestyle.
It sounded simple enough until the day Conway Kitty meowed insistence for a certain, pricey cat food. Rush went to the store to buy him some. That’s when his life changed for good.
Every number on his ticket matched the ones drawn in that week’s Lotto Max. Suddenly the Albertan was a lucky man with a tax-free, $50 million headache. He did all the things he had planned to do if he ever got that lucky. He contributed to charities. He bought racing cars and traveled the world. He paid off friends’ debts, and even gave them free use of fancy new homes.
The ink on his huge cheque was barely dry when he was approached by Jeremy Crawford, son of Rush’s good friend, Dave Crawford. Jeremy had a business idea that was too good to pass up.
Rush poured good money after bad to the tune of nearly five million dollars. Fortunately for him, his street smarts kicked in. For the next two years, he was a man with a mission to recoup his losses and stop the Crawfords’ spree of scams. His sense of betrayal and need for justice fueled him during the long battle.
Rush writes like a man aggrieved, and justly so. His experience confirms every deep fear about what can happen to people who come into sudden wealth. He tells the story with the headlong passion of a good thriller. Rush was not a philosopher focused on personal growth. He was an ordinary guy who worked and played hard, hung out with his friends, and had a streak of generosity. He was loath to recognize the criminality and greed of people he trusted, but when he did he was a pitbull in going after them.
Unlike many who make bad investments or get caught up in scams, Rush decided to fight back candidly and publicly. The result is a book that shows not only his harsh road to justice but also his adherence to values he took into his experience of sudden wealth. On the other side of the battle, he is forging ahead with his plans to invest in good causes. He is also engaged in efforts to draw attention to the appalling impact of white-collar crime. And he is still generous to friends.
Anyone who’s longed for a huge lottery win may think twice after reading Rush’s compelling memoir.
Most of us fantasize about winning the lottery. Randy Rush had an uncanny conviction that he was going to win Canada's lottery. It was based on a dream he had where a set of numbers was emblazoned in red—his intuition said these were his winning numbers. He kept buying lottery tickets until suddenly one day his numbers came up. Randy grew up poor in an unstable family and was heading for a life of crime, until he found a church that helped him on a better path. Many of Randy's best friends were associated with the church, and his deepest betrayals were by these supposed friends after he became wealthy. Winning the lottery, $50 million Canadian tax-free, rocketed Randy into the stratosphere. He had actually planned how he would handle the money in the years he waited for his numbers to appear, but became swept up into helping friends and indulging his passion for expensive autos.
The memoir is told first-person in a candid, humorous voice that makes you feel that you know Randy personally. He does not hold back in describing his emotions and actions on the head-spinning roller coaster during the first few years. Scenes vividly play out as Randy contends with investing almost $5 million in a high tech business startup by a church friend's son, only to discover it was a huge con. Through roiling emotions and legal battles, Randy presses on to recoup most of his losses, and gets widespread media coverage. He then hears from many others who were conned by this man, and takes up the cause of bringing down the scam and all people involved. This evolves into a fight against white collar crime which continues to be one of Randy's missions.
After being burned a few more times, Randy gets professional financial management and sets goals for using his wealth to benefit others. He provides support for educating children in Africa and has built schools in Uganda. He found out fast "who your real friends and family are—really, really fast." Ha laughs at himself when people recognize him on the street but say "there's the owner of Conway Kitty!" An endearing quality of Randy's is his love of animals, especially cats who are his family, since he never married. When he won the lottery, Conway Kitty got the most press. For an inside view of how sudden wealth transforms a person's life, a gripping account that is entertaining and inspirational, Randy's story is fully satisfying.
I received a free copy of this book, and this is my honest review.
What would you do if you won $50 million dollars tax free? This book caught my interest because it is a memoir from lottery winner, Randy Rush who did indeed win this big sum in the Canadian lottery. I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.
Despite having a plan and deeming himself to be smarter than previous winners who had been scammed out of their money, Rush falls prey to a con artist he identifies as Jeremy Crawford. I was interested to see how he ended up in that position, how he fought back, and what he moved on to do afterwards.
This book had a lot of background information that jumped about, which was somewhat hard to follow and seemed to exist to bring the reader to the conclusion that Rush is a good guy in spite of all the odds all being against him. No doubt, lottery winners deal with more than their fair share of people trying to get some of their money, but there were some loyal people in his life, and they received little notice. This narrative has a clear protagonist, Randy, and an antagonist Crawford who, along with a supporting cast of characters including many of Randy's friends and family, is without nuance. There are many villains in this story, but only one hero.
He not only lost money, but clearly, he lost some pride and confidence throughout the experience. I had to cringe when reading about him being talked into signing a legal contract for large sum of money, even while he says he knew better and had seen many red flags to that point. Seemingly to justify how he allowed himself to provide such a large sum of money to the con artist, he went on a mission to prove how bad his ex-business partner truly was. He digs into how many people Crawford had conned and into his background by hiring a private investigator and even commissioning a book about Crawford'. This eventually set in motion an official government inquiry in addition to his own lawsuit. The end of the book included how he moved forward and his shift to focusing on the good he can do with his remaining winnings. The personal shift in the end and the author’s rising confidence seems palpable. That was, for me, one of the best parts of the book.
This is a wild and fascinating ride through the experiences of a man plucked by fate from his ordinary life into the world of fantasy--the fantasy of suddenly having enough money to do just about whatever you want to do. Go see your favorite team! Fly to Europe! Travel to Africa! Buy the car that you've always wanted. Two cars--or even more!
But along with fantasy comes the reality of dealing with the people who surround you hoping to use your success to make their dreams come true--at your expense.
In this book, Randy Rush tells us of the initial excitement of winning the Canadian lottery, tax-free, and getting a lump sum deposit into his bank account that will set him up securely for life.
But Randy is the kind of guy who sees people around him who are struggling or who need help--and with more money than he really needs, he decides to give them a leg up. And then, after a while, it's an arm and a leg up...
Money isn't the root of all evil--it's the love of money that does that. And having access to money doesn't change people. It just makes their characters more clearly apparent to everyone.
Randy goes through an enormous number of challenges to learn the truths about the people around him, but also learns about his own self, that generosity AND wisdom are required for happiness and joy.
Overall the book was interesting, and I read it through in one sitting. It's co-authored with Ingrid Ricks, and it is fluid and smooth, but it displays the enthusiasm and attention of the subject, Randy Rush. Sometimes the story shifted from one topic to another with great rapidity. It did not detract from the story; in fact, it is a charming reveal of the personality of Randy expressed in the book itself.
There is a section with photos from Randy's life that help round out the picture that the words of the story described. I appreciated seeing them, and appreciate matching names to faces in the story.
I was happy to receive a copy of the book to review in exchange for my honest review.
Can you imagine winning a $50 million lottery? I suppose we have IMAGINED it but actually winning it? Yeah – that hardly ever happens. But it did happen to Randy Rush! He found out when he went to the store to buy his cat some cat food. (His cat is named Conway Kitty – how cute is that?) Needless to write, his life changed overnight.
What follows is Randy sharing the excitement of his win and impacts all of that money had on his life. He was determined from the start that we wasn’t going to end up like a lot of lottery winners who end up blowing through their winnings in short order and find themselves left with nothing. He was going to invest wisely and help some friends. Randy was also determined to do some good with his money.
While he was commited to this ideal he found that sometimes his friends were more interested in his money and what it could do for them than in what Randy wanted. One who he considered a very good friend ended up swindling him out of almost $5Million. It was his quest to get his money back that led him to part of his life’s work – finding and bringing white collar criminals to justice.
13 Billion to One was a fast paced if one note read about one man’s experience with sudden, extreme wealth and the impact it has on a life. Even though Mr. Rush covered some of the negatives that can occur when a life altering event occurs it still seemed as if he glossed over the negatives to maintain a positive outlook. I am all for remaining positive but even when describing his overwhelming rage I still felt detached from it rather than drawn into it.
It is a fascinating look at what any of us could consider a dream come true event. And certainly a cautionary tale to keep in mind should any of us be so lucky as to experience such a wonderful event. One definitely has to love a cat named Conway Kitty too.
Thank you to Rantanna Media and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Imagine going to the corner store for pet food and finding out you have won the lottery and the amount is $50M! This is exactly what happened to Randy Rush when buying food for his cat, Conway Kitty. Randy, like all of us, thought he knew what he would do with his winnings if he ever won the lottery…he even had a to-do list. He made quick work of helping ease the financial burdens of his friends, traveling, splurging on cars and even attempted a donation to the church. Unfortunately, the saying more money more problems seems to be true. Enter the Crawford family….serial con artists. I found this book really interesting. You got to hear about Randy’s childhood struggles, which may been a factor in his desire to ignore his gut feeling and red flags during important decision making moments. There was also a lot of frustration hearing how true it is that money or hard times can show you who your true friends are. There were quite a few disappointments for Randy when it came to his friends. Also frustrating is how slowly justice can move. I commend Randy on pursuing justice because with the amount of money he won it would be quite easy to just cut his losses and move on from the Crawfords. I appreciate the sense of right and wrong and seeking justice that keeps you in emotional turmoil indefinitely. Some of my favorite parts of the story were hearing about his pets Huey, Coco and Conway Kitty. I also enjoyed hearing about Randy’s 50th birthday celebration and the work he was doing in Africa. A memoir that serves as a great cautionary tale for those that come into money…..get a money manager and an attorney right away. Protect yourself from others and from your own initial excitement of financial freedom.
Thank you to Rantanna Media and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Imagine going to the corner store for pet food and finding out you have won the lottery and the amount is $50M! This is exactly what happened to Randy Rush when buying food for his cat, Conway Kitty. Randy, like all of us, thought he knew what he would do with his winnings if he ever won the lottery…he even had a to-do list. He made quick work of helping ease the financial burdens of his friends, traveling, splurging on cars and even attempted a donation to the church. Unfortunately, the saying more money more problems seems to be true. Enter the Crawford family….serial con artists. I found this book really interesting. You got to hear about Randy’s childhood struggles, which may been a factor in his desire to ignore his gut feeling and red flags during important decision making moments. There was also a lot of frustration hearing how true it is that money or hard times can show you who your true friends are. There were quite a few disappointments for Randy when it came to his friends. Also frustrating is how slowly justice can move. I commend Randy on pursuing justice because with the amount of money he won it would be quite easy to just cut his losses and move on from the Crawfords. I appreciate the sense of right and wrong and seeking justice that keeps you in emotional turmoil indefinitely. Some of my favorite parts of the story were hearing about his pets Huey, Coco and Conway Kitty. I also enjoyed hearing about Randy’s 50th birthday celebration and the work he was doing in Africa. A memoir that serves as a great cautionary tale for those that come into money…..get a money manager and an attorney right away. Protect yourself from others and from your own initial excitement of financial freedom.
This book is truly a non-fiction gem and a bestseller waiting to happen! Canadian Randy Rush unexpectedly won 50 million dollars in the lottery and his life was changed forever—and not just for the better. The first thing Randy did after finding out that he won was make a list. He wanted to do things like help his friends with their debts, make a large donation to his church and other charities, and quit his boring job. All things that I think many of us daydream about doing.
From the start, Randy was cautious and hesitant to allow other people in his town know that he had won, at least until the lottery made the announcement and the news cameras and reporters came out. After all, if people find out that you have money, some can feel entitled to it for no reason. But all of that caution did not help Randy when a family friend’s son asked him to invest in his tech start up. Thinking that it was a sound investment, Randy agreed, only to find out later that he has been scammed.
This book was very well written and easy to read. I felt like I was watching a movie as I was reading, the pacing and action were so perfect. I love when memoir writers pay attention to traditional pacing elements because it really creates a masterpiece of a book and '13 Billion to One' is just such a masterpiece. Rush has such a talent for writing that I definitely think he should use it again in the future.
As for how things worked out after his friend betrayed him, well, you're going to have to read the book to find that one out yourself. But suffice it to say that I was on the edge of my seat. I really appreciated the overall message in this book and how the ending worked out. Definitely worth a read! I give it 5 out of 5.
A memoir about sudden fortune and the sudden loss that followed, '13 Billion to One: A Memoir,' by Randy Rush is the absolutely fascinating story of a man who won $50 million in the Canadian lottery one day and lost a good portion of it just as quickly.
Randy Rush was, at one point, a perfectly normal guy. In fact, the only reason that he found out that he won the lottery on the day that he did was because he stopped into his local general store to pick up cat food. As fate would have it, one of the lottery tickets that Randy had bought before that turned out to be the jackpot winner.
It's an unattainable dream that most of us wish for. What would you do if you won the lottery? For Randy, the answer was similar to what many of us would say. He wanted to pay off his friend's debts, donate to his local church, and quit his draining job. Randy is a conscientious man, and not the type to immediately blow all of his winnings on hot tubs and jet skis. But even conscientious and careful people can be scammed. Unfortunately, the son of a family friend asked Randy to invest in his tech start-up and things went downhill from there.
The company turned out to be a scam, and Randy loses almost $5 million to a man that he'd previously thought of as a friend. Not one to take things lying down, Randy decides to begin a crusade not only against his scammer, but against white collar scammers everywhere.
The glamorous thought of winning the lottery is part of what makes this memoir an interesting read, but not all of it. Randy Rush seems like a very moral guy in his own right and the last person I would ever have expected to get scammed out of such a large sum of money. This one has a great ending and I highly recommend picking it up for yourself!
In '13 Billion to One: A Memoir,' author Randy Rush relates the incredible story behind his $50 million lottery win and the devastating loss that followed. Rush was, what most would consider a normal man. Working at a boring job in a rental car agency, Rush had only recently gotten back on his feet after having suffered some life setbacks in his 20's. After slowly returning his life to normal, Rush discovers during a routine grocery run that a lottery ticket that he had recently purchased was a winner. He had struck the $50 million jackpot in the Canadian lottery. Rush was obviously both overjoyed and overwhelmed. He immediately set about making a list of everything that he wanted to do with his newfound wealth and intended to keep to it in order to avoid unnecessary and foolhardy spending. But, of course, things don't always go as planned, and big money inevitably draws out big problems. Soon after his win, Rush is asked by his friend to invest in the tech-start up company owned by the man's son. The friend and his son, Jeremy turn out to be con artist’s who scams Rush out of $5 million of his win.
This was a thrilling read and one that I would recommend to anyone who loves memoirs or cautionary tales with triumphant endings. After Rush loses the $5 million, he begins a quest to take Jeremy to court, and, eventually to further find and expose other white collar con men and scam artists who would seek to do the same to other lottery winners.
I love stories about sudden fortune and justice prevailing, so this was a big win for me! Rush is a compelling writer and his narrative throughout the story was strong. This incredible story definitely has to be read to be believed!
Memoirs have an incredible way of making the reader jump into another life and live someone else’s story at least for a little while. Through confessions, humor and poetic prose the best memoirs tend to bring us closer to ourselves to dig deeper and connect with the author’s life. Randy Rush's, '13 Billion to One' is not only one engaging memoir but one which describes the cautionary tale of people and money. Having grown up in the streets and learning to fight and struggle for everything, Randy’s life changes when while on his errand to the grocer shop. It is there that he discovers he has won Canada's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot. For a lad like Rush who not even in his dreams had imagined such money, his newfound fortune almost seems inexhaustible. In the months following Rush mollycoddles in everything his new fortune can buy including rare sports cars, staying in million dollar homes and splurging on friends while also considering some charitable causes. However all this comes to a halt when Rush discovers that he has fallen prey to a serial con artist, Jeremy Crawford who had all the time acted as a close friend and coerced Rush to invest in a scam project. Reeling from this betrayal and also the realization that he is not the only victim to fall to this network of cons, Rush embarks on a journey to take his adversaries down. Will he be successful in this quest or will the Crawfords continue tormenting him. The author does the book some incredible justice by utilizing a frank straightforward tone, unlike other memoirs which try to sugarcoat uncomfortable stories especially those linked with terrible experiences. He also takes his time to show us his journey through the courts and how his journey of fighting white-collar crime began. The nicely balanced and well-organized nature of the book makes this read a pure non-fictional gem ready to bring hope and inspiration through a search for justice while also helping the reader through the author's narrative of what really matters in life.
I did not care too much for the presentation of the story telling. It was very matter much like sitting across from him as he relayed his story, but mostly I found it a bit never-ending and dull. Mr. Rush was in over his head with his sudden windfall. He really needed to just sit on his winnings and tell no one, while he figured out how to deal with his new money. Often I want to jump up and tell him, "Why did you think that was a good idea?" But I also realize that events as they occur sometimes take on a life of their own and only when you sit back and objectively step out the process do you realize how insane the situation you got yourself into.
Actually, I found the story telling so dull that I really should put this in my DNF list as I skipped the entire middle portion of the story. It was an okay story, but not my type of story.
Randall Rush is the winner of a 50 million dollar lottery jackpot - an absolutely unimaginable amount of money. Also unimaginable is the deception and fraud perpetrated by those he thought of as his closest friends. In the afterword, Rush explains that he wants readers to feel hopeful that no matter what negative circumstances you are surrounded by, everything has the possibility change in an instant. I did feel that hope at the end, and was glad to see that he has done well for himself. While his story was very interesting, I felt let down by the quality of the writing. It was simplistic and somewhat disjointed as stories about his past were sprinkled in with the main narrative about the fraud - the most compelling part of the book. I think a well written long form article (eg. New Yorker, Atlantic etc.) may have been able to tell the story in a more compelling manner.
This is the true story of Randy Rush and his astounding lottery win. Have you ever wondered what you would do with all that money? And how it would change your life? This is Randy Rush's emotional account of his life after lottery. He tried his hardest to do good and help people, but people (especially relatives) were never happy with what he gave them, always wanting more. To top it off, he becomes a victim of a scam that bilked him out of millions sparking a new career for Randy. His mission now is to put an end to white-collar crime and again help people who are victims like himself.
Rush and Ingrid Ricks have crafted an emotional memoir. It is an interesting study of humanity and greed. I appreciate the opportunity to read an ARC.
Have you always dreamed of winning big through the Lottery? Randy Rush won big and in 13 Billion to One we learn what that actually cost him! As I was reading this book, I visualized a documentary. Randy's story is quite compelling. Yes, he made mistakes, yes he was taken advantage of, and yes he had every right to be angry. I was most impressed by the section of the book that led him to the determination to properly channel his anger, his commitment to battling white collar crime, and the reveal of the ultimate generosity of his spirit. A cautionary tale of lessons learned, but definitely a worthwhile read. 3.5 I accessed my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.
All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com ~~~~ This review will appear on my site on June 24, 2020 which is also publication day. ~~~~ 3.5 stars ~~~~ A bit of a ‘rags to riches’ story that takes a turn, 13 Billion to One is also a cautionary tale. Yes, we all occasionally buy that lottery ticket and fantasize what it would be like to win. But then we never actually win…. But what happens if you actually DO win? That was why I wanted to pick up this memoir. Winning the lottery is not all it is cracked up to be.
Some of Rush’s circumstances were of his own fault. He first wanted to not do any investments for a full year after winning. If he had stayed with his first thoughts, he would not have found himself in his circumstances. He also came off a bit naïve and over the top with some of his early purchases and helping out of his ‘friends’. So many people came off to him expecting multiple handouts. I get it, you want to help your friends out, but multiple times? No, that’s taking advantage of his situation and possibly losing your friendship.
I never lost interest in reading this memoir. It was very easy to read, even when it came to the legal issues, and Rush tells us his story first hand. Despite wanting to try and help Rush learn to say ‘no’ to people and pay attention to the many red herrings that showed up which he ignored, I had little empathy for him. I did like how he shows us how he did end up using his money for the good of others in another country.
A very cautionary tale that shows that the love/greed of money is truly evil and how winning the lottery is really not all you might think it may be.
Many thanks to the publisher Rantanna Media for granting me an e-arc to read and review.
A 50 million dollar lottery winning. Sweet! Life on easy street, right? Or perhaps not. Rush's life after his winning took some severe downturns. The story details Rush's realization that true riches come from what you give away rather than what you keep.
13 Billion to One: A Memoir: Winning the $50 Million Lottery Has Its Price by Randy Rush. It is a story of how winning the lottery changes things and how fraud can affect you. It was interesting and easy to read.
I chose this book because it was about someone who won the lottery and I needed it for the Year of the dragon challenge. I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I expected. It just amazes me the greed of people. I was really rooting for the offer.
Congrats and best wishes Randy. Hope you have fun with life. A fun read definitely gained some insights and you have a good heart. Anything about cats and other pets related so much as well.
Have you bought a lottery ticket? Dreamed of what winning it big w could be like? Well let Randy tell you this cautionary tale first. Keep it I kinda you dream of spending all that free money.