A review by judithdcollins
Everything to Lose by Andrew Gross

4.0

Everything to Lose by Andrew Gross is a fast-paced, complex, suspense thriller, a conspiracy, with dark buried secrets, and murder for an intense ride!

Set in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Hilary Cantor, is a divorced mother of a seven-year old son, with Asperger's Syndrome. She has tons of medical bills and expensive schooling for her son, and her number one priority is taking care of her son and getting him the care he needs.

Hilary has just lost her job and her husband has not paid his child support. (he is remarried with his own family).
So, her last resort, is driving to her ex-husband’s house, since he will not return her calls. She needs to get money from him in order to help Brandon. While driving, she is taking a different route than normal and rounds a curve and she sees a car ahead of her swerve to avoid hitting a deer, a freak accident.

The car spins out of control, plunges over the embankment and she sets out to see if she can help, but it is too late. The man is dead; however, she sees a bag of money (a half a million) on the front seat. Her first instinct is to leave it; however, she thinks maybe this is the answer to her prayers, as she is desperate. She decides to throw the bag into the woods, and come back for it later-If she can bring herself to do so… she has to think it over.

Over the course of the next few days, she is on the fence between right and wrong, the outcome, and what she can or cannot do, while looking at her options, which are slim. Another driver sees the accident (minus the money bag throwing), and he says he will wait on the police. She then goes to her ex-husband’s house and he offers little or no assistance, as he has had to close his business and his wife is keeping them afloat.

Can she do this? What if? Whose money is it and will she get caught? In the meantime, she does her own investigation to learn more about the man driving the car. He is a regular down to earth older man with a nice family, and he is no way could be mixed up in this kind of money, and locates his son.

What happens next sets on a course of high-suspense as all the pieces begin to connect. The writing and plot, tight and brilliant - the way the different characters from years ago, are leading up to this one day, when they collide.

When the original plan of one person to help another, becomes something bigger, caught up in a dark past and secrets of a political official’s past, and now the bad guy is looking for the money, plus all the people connected to that dark secret. With an added bonus of a man who risks it all to help her along with a child’s love.

A heart-pounding suspense crime thriller, and page turner which is hard to put down. What made this book so incredible is the realism- it could actually happen. When faced with these choices, what would you do to protect your child?

I listened to the audiobook and Tavia Gilbert was outstanding – a great combo. This was my first book by Gross and look forward to reading more!