Try our new book recommendation quiz to get recommendations tailored to your preferences.

Summary and Reviews of The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer

The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer

The Millionaires

by Brad Meltzer
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2002, 496 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2002, 544 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Book Summary

Another edge-of-your-seat thriller---a tale of two brothers trying to hide in a world where every step you take can be traced.

Brad Meltzer, the author of the runaway bestseller The First Counsel, is back with another edge-of-your-seat thriller---a tale of two brothers trying to hide in a world where every step you take can be traced.

It started as the perfect crime. Then it took a turn for the worse. Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they're faced with an offer they can't refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn't belong to anyone. It's a foolproof crime. More important, for Charlie and Oliver, it's a way out of debt and the key to a new life. All they have to do is take the money.

But when they do, they quickly discover they've got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead---and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in. What invisible strings were attached to that account? How are the brothers going to prove they're innocent? And why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

This is Brad Meltzer at his most electrifying---a breathtaking, suspenseful story about two brothers chasing a dream that may cost them everything they hold dear.

Chapter 1

I know where I'm going. And I know who I want to be. That's why I took this job in the first place...and why, four years later, I still put up with the clients. And their demands. And their wads of money. Most of the time, they just want to keep a low profile, which is actually the bank's specialty. Other times, they want a little...personal touch. My phone rings and I tee up the charm. "This is Oliver," I answer. "How can I help you?"

"Where the hell's your boss!?" a Southern chainsaw of a voice explodes in my ear.

"E-Excuse me?"

"Don't piss on this, Caruso! I want my money!"

It's not until he says the word "money," that I recognize the accent. Tanner Drew, the largest developer of luxury skyscrapers in New York City and chief patriarch of the Drew Family Office. In the world of high-net-worth individuals, a family office is as high as you get. Rockefeller. Rothschild. Gates and Soros. Once hired, the family office supervises all the advisors, lawyers, and ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist
Sometimes it's fun to root for the bad guys, especially if they're not all that bad. Meltzer gives us two brothers playing Robin Hood, taking from the rich (a bank) and giving to the poor (their mother). Meltzer, often called the Grisham of financial thrillers, has a knack for keeping a story moving while still throwing in plenty of insider information....

Kirkus Reviews
What begins as a tidy scheme to steal a measly $3 million from a closely held private bank quickly spins out of control-in the biggest and wildest of Meltzer's paranoid action fantasies.

Publishers Weekly
This giddy fourth thriller by Meltzer (The First Counsel) mixes up banking, cyber-theft and Disney World in a fast-paced, fresh-scrubbed tale of financial adventure. ...but two flaws detract from the action. First, the narrative POV jumps too often from one character to the next and from present tense to past, making for a choppy read. Second, the novel's juvenile flavor ....

Reader Reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Millionaires, try these:

  • The Prophet jacket

    The Prophet

    by Michael Koryta

    Published 2013

    About this book

    More by this author

    Michael Koryta, long hailed as one of the best young thriller writers at work today, has written his greatest novel ever - an emotionally harrowing, unstoppably suspenseful novel that proves why Michael Connelly has named him "one of the best of the best."

  • The Summons jacket

    The Summons

    by John Grisham

    Published 2002

    About this book

    More by this author

    Ray heads south, to his hometown to meet with his dying father but 'The Judge' dies too soon leaving behind a shocking secret known only to Ray and perhaps someone else.

We have 5 read-alikes for The Millionaires, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Brad Meltzer
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

Books with similar themes


Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Kent State
    Kent State
    by Brian VanDeMark
    On May 4th, 1970, four Kent State University students were shot and killed and nine wounded by ...
  • Book Jacket: Creation Lake
    Creation Lake
    by Rachel Kushner
    In Bernardo Bertolucci's movie The Dreamers (2003), three people are holed up inside a Parisian ...
  • Book Jacket: Yr Dead
    Yr Dead
    by Sam Sax
    The entirety of Sam Sax's debut novel, Yr Dead, takes place between the moment 27-year-old Ezra sets...
  • Book Jacket: A Well-Trained Wife
    A Well-Trained Wife
    by Tia Levings
    This harrowing and beautifully written memoir explores the author's journey into—and eventual ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    In the Garden of Monsters
    by Crystal King

    A woman with no past, a man who knows her, and a monstrous garden that separates their worlds.

  • Book Jacket

    The Naming Song
    by Jedediah Berry

    Miyazaki meets Guillermo del Toro.

Book Club Giveaway!
Win Let Us Descend

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward imagines the life of an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War in this instant classic.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

As D A A D

and be entered to win..