A book review of “Officially Dead” (Richard Prescott), written by Letícia Moura.
The perfect plan I’ve heard once that “money is the root of all evil”. This phrase came back to my mind as I read “Officially Dead”, a book written by Richard Prescott in 1999. This story shows how ambition can have bad consequences and affect the lives of everyone around. Colin Fenton and his wife, Julie Fenton, were partners in business; they had a company, C. J. F. Software Solutions, which developed computer programs. While his wife looked after of the technical part, Colin was responsible for the company’s finances, the marketing and the organization of training courses. He had to travel a lot to help the clients training their staff to use the program. In one of his trips, in Brentwood, Colin had sealed his fate when he met the Bentleys. In a pub, Colin met a guy that looked just like him, John Bentley. John was accompanied by his beautiful wife, Linda Bentley. Colin talked about him and his work. If only he knew that Linda was already planning to use him as an alibi for her husband while they rob a jewelry store. As the days passed by, Linda tried to seduce Colin to give the alibi that John needed to do the robbery. Colin’s company was in financial trouble, so he decided take a chance to get an easy money. In the robbery day, Colin exchanged his car and ID with John and left for Manchester. However, he had an accident in an icy road. Before he died, he asked the man who tried to help him, Mark Ashwood, to give a message for his wife. He told him to tell Julie he was sorry. Everybody believes it was John Bentley, and not Colin Fenton, who had died in the car crash. That gives Linda and John the perfect alibi to do the robbery days later. If it wasn’t for Mark, who help put the puzzle pieces together with Julie, Linda’s plan would have worked perfectly. John stole the jewelry with Linda, but after they attacked Mark and Julie in the road, everybody knew they were the thieves. In the end, Julie found justice and love again. Linda and John were arrested after she contested an inheritance. She certainly didn’t need more money after the robbery, but her ambition brought troubles for her and her husband again. The book is very interest and the characters were able to captivate the reader. The reading also shows a sense of “right moral” when it explains that easy money can certainly tempts you, but it almost never worth it. If you truth to your beliefs, like Julie, no matter who bad the situation gets, you can find your way out of it.