Eat the Rich? More Like “Kill the Rich”

Kill the Rich by Dan Myers

The question is raised as two co-workers at Larrabee Yacht Company in the small community of Sandy Harbor, WA, contemplate killing their boss before he can mastermind a plan to shut down the facility, move operations to Mexico, eliminate the staff, and walk away with a fortune.

That’s the storyline and bizarre strategy being considered by Larrabee’s Information Services Manager Steve Mattick in the new novel by Dan Myers appropriately entitled Kill the Rich. And to make matters worse (or better, depending upon your perspective), Steve’s plot requires killing several rich people in order to ensure an air-tight cover-up.

“I like the idea of killing a rich person, almost any rich person,” says Steve as he explains his concept to office colleague and co-conspirator Mike Palmer. “That’s the beauty of my plan. There must be others with similar feelings…They have a lot of people screaming to tax the rich. I’m just modifying that slogan a little to say ‘kill’ instead of ‘tax.’”

A SLICE OF AN AMERICAN COMPANY

Steve is in his mid-50s with a mid-level IT position. As the company has fallen on hard times, it has been evaluating options, all the while hinting at the job insecurity of its people. Ultimate decisions seem to be in the hands of the company’s latest turnaround expert, Delworth Compton. The question is will his actions benefit the company or benefit Delworth.

Steve sees the writing on the wall.  “The only thing that would really give all of us any future security is to have Mr. Compton bite the big one.” Perhaps just idle chatter over a drink with a colleague Or something more?

Mike can’t believe what he’s hearing. But readers can see his sentiments slowly turn. Says Mike, “I suppose you have figured out how to commit the perfect murder.”

The answer is yes – if you want to believe a total amateur. But for someone whose penchant for details usually involves a measured decision in Larrabee’s IT department, Steve and Mike are stepping out of their lane.

TWIST-FILLED ENDING

Kill the Rich reminds me of the movie “A Simple Plan,” in which Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton stumble upon a crashed airplane with a load of cash, and in their efforts to claim it escalate to committing a crime that is beyond their abilities to cope. In Kill the Rich, you have two company employees who attempt to justify their murder plans by expressing their resentment of the wealthy class and their sympathy for people they believe the rich have stomped on to achieve their financial success.

Dan Myers has given us a slice of an American company in trouble – its business, its people and its community – and developed a character with ideas beyond his pay grade to right many wrongs in the corporate hierarchy and in society in general.

Will the plan succeed? You’ll have to get to the twist-filled ending to find out for yourself.