Fool's Errand

Fool's Errand written by Jeffrey S. Stephens, 237 pages

 
This was an interesting find.  First let me say it was a delightful read.  This is a novel that has all the earmarks of a successful thriller mystery story.  We have death, money, a questionable past, a bright young man, his relationship with his farther and the presence of Daddy’s crooked mob cronies always in the vicinity.
 
A young man has long since buried his father.  He always wanted to please that man and yet never felt he fully measured up to the bar that his father set for him at the moment of his birth.  Still, he went and made a life of his own, away from his father.
 
Things were going fairly well until one day his mother calls and says she has a letter for him from his Dad that she found in a bunch of his things.  As I think anyone would be, the son is a little leery about opening this letter.  What could possibly be in this letter that his father hadn’t told him already?  His mother won’t open it and she doesn’t want to discuss it.  
 
So, what’s with all the mystery?  What kind of information is lurking in that letter?  This young man knows his father was a mobster and not always walking the straight line.  He knows his old man did and got involved with some very questionable, if not down-right wrong activities.
 

Jeffrey S. Stephens, Author

Here are the actual blurbs:
 
Back Cover:
“Years after the death of his gangster father, a young man discovers a letter that sends him reluctantly defying the mob as he races to locate a hidden treasure.”
 
Inside dust jacket front flap:
“It’s been six years since the ultimately untimely death of Blackie- a charming rogue who endlessly pursued “The Big Deal”- when his son discovers an enigmatic letter telling of a cache of stolen money.  Feeling no choice but to pursue his father dream, he embarks on a search that leads from New York to the strip in Las Vegas and ultimately to the south of France.  Along this life altering journey, he is confronted by the dangers of his father’s past as he unravels a decades-old mystery, while revealing other long-buried secrets.”
 
Once in possession of this letter the son is soon pulled into a world of his father’s unique personality and communication, not to mention his father’s old business associates, leading him to investigate the past in order to understand the present.  Winding through all kinds of dangers and strange and suspicious obstacles, he makes his way onward, determined to solve the mystery of his father’s cryptic letter.  
 
But soon he finds that along with many other things, people, friends, acquaintances and business partners, the people and things he knew as a kid were not all what they seemed.  Now it’s a question of who he can trust and how much he can trust them.
 
This was a gripping and exciting read.  I tore through it once I finally got to it on my reading list.  What a great find!  The mystery aspect of this book is written so well that you are completely absorbed, wanting to know everything, just like our main character, who is also narrating the story.
 
This novel is filled with surprised, twists and turns, one thing after another bringing constant questions, constant answers and constant suspense.  Any thriller or mystery lover is sure to totally dig this book.  
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars

---