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Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million
Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million
Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million
Ebook216 pages2 hours

Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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The “unexpectedly moving” story of dumb luck and the American Dream set in South Philly from the # 1 New York Times–bestselling author (Entertainment Weekly).
 
What would you do if you found a million dollars? When Joey Coyle did, he was a twenty-eight-year-old drug-dependent, unemployed longshoreman living with his ailing mother in a tight-knit Philadelphia neighborhood. While cruising the streets just blocks from his home, fate took a turn worthy of a Hollywood caper when he found $1.2 million in unmarked bills—casino money that had fallen off an armored truck. It was virtually untraceable. Coyle? Not so much.
 
Over the next seven days, fueled by euphoria, methamphetamine, and paranoia, Coyle shared his windfall with everyone from his eight-year-old niece to total strangers to a local mob boss who offered to “clean” it. All the while, Det. Pat Laurenzi and members of the FBI were working around the clock to find it. No one was prepared for how Coyle’s dream-come-true would come tumbling down, or what would happen when it did.
 
From “a master of narrative journalism” comes the incredible true-life thriller of an ordinary man with an extraordinary dilemma, and the complicity, concern, and betrayal of friends, family, and neighbors that would prove his undoing (The New York Times Book Review).
 
“A miniature serio-comedy about life in the city.” —The Washington Post
 
“Masterfully reported and artfully paced.” —Entertainment Weekly
 
“A taut, fast-paced tale.” —The Baltimore Sun
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 1, 2007
ISBN9781555846077
Author

Mark Bowden

Mark Bowden is the author of Road Work, Finders Keepers, Killing Pablo, Black Hawk Down (nominated for a National Book Award), Bringing the Heat, and Doctor Dealer. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He lives in the Philadelphia area.

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Rating: 3.5609754780487806 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is an extremely fast read. I probably read this book in around two hours (spread over a few days). It is an engaging non-fiction story that reads like a novel. It is a well-organized and straightforward account of a true story. A lot of other reviewers have complained about the main character, Joey Coyle, who finds 1.2 million dollars lying on the street, because he behaves like a real idiot. I will grant that he is probably the worst possible person to have encountered a giant pile of cash in the street. A drug addict with really poor decision-making skills, he bumbled around South Philly and made a series of decisions so stupid as to be almost comical. So in that regard, it is frustrating, and I found myself thinking, "Well, if *I* had found that money..." etc. All that being said, I still think the book is very enjoyable, and the author does an excellent job setting us up for Joey Coyle's ridiculous decisions. Additionally, I found myself feeling sorry for him because of his crippling addiction. The author is honest, albeit slightly sympathetic, in his portrayal of Coyle. I definitely recommend this book. Just be forewarned that you will spend the whole book wishing you had been the person to find that $1.2 million
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    REVIEWED: Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 MillionWRITTEN BY: Mark BowdenPUBLISHED: October, 2002This is a journalistic account of the true story of Joey Coyle, an out-of-work and drug-addicted 28 year old man, who finds $1.2 million which had fallen from an armored truck. It’s a riveting drama which at turns takes twists into humor and suspense but ends, unfortunately, as a tragedy. Coyle is portrayed as an amiable man who essentially blows through much of the money in two weeks, simply by giving it away to homeless, using it on drugs, “forgetting” where he put it, and sharing it with shady businessmen and friends who find out about his fortune and begin to confront him for a piece of the loot. Add to all this, Joey increasingly uses methamphetamine (speed) which causes him paranoid delusions and crippling anxiety. Finders Keepers is sharp and well-written; a fascinating tale of an ordinary man faced with a moral dilemma, and the ensuing reactions of family, friends, neighbors, and police who become a part of his misadventures.Five out of Five stars

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Finders Keepers - Mark Bowden

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