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Rick Hoffman is down on his luck. He has been laid off in the wake of the collapse of some print newspapers, and his once-promising career as an investigative journalist who exposed issues like the dumping of toxic waste is behind him. His ambitious fiancée has left him for greener wallets, while his father, Lenny, is in a nursing home, after a stroke left him paralyzed and speechless 18 years earlier. The only way for Rick to make some money is for him to fix up his father's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts and put it on the market. But when a contractor pulls down some plywood to check out the soundness of the construction, Rick finds over three million dollars in cash under a tarp behind the wall.
Unable to resist the temptation to spend some of his newly-acquired wealth and flash it around, he abandons the couch in his father's home and trades it in for an upscale hotel room, some new clothes, and a dinner date at the most expensive restaurant in Boston with Andrea, a former high school sweetheart, whom he has run into. She is not only unimpressed by the caviar appetizers, but she is also completely turned off by Rick's misguided spending priorities. It turns out that she is dedicated to a charity that helps children learn math.
The combination of Andrea's reproach and his own curiosity gets Rick to investigate the origin of his father's large stash of money. At the same time, Rick's reckless spending has brought him to the attention of the very people he would like to uncover, and they soon make it their goal to eradicate him before he can discover and expose the truth.
Though the risks and abuse that Rick takes in the course of THE FIXER stretch the limits of credibility at times, Joseph Finder's talent is in stitching together action-packed novels that keep most fans riveted to every page or CD. Finder also has a deft touch in terms of character development: The more Rick learns about Lenny's unsavory past as a shady lawyer who specialized in defending sleazy characters and acting as a bagman for them (the "fixer" of the title), the more Rick unearths about his father's original dreams for both himself and for Rick. Finder careens Rick through a Boston landscape populated by the Irish mob, corrupt politicians, huge renovation projects like the Big Dig, and seedy strip club operators. But there are also well-meaning community activists and decent working people who make Rick want to get back into investigative journalism.
Steven Kearney, who also narrated Finder's SUSPICION, is a relatively new but talented audio performer. His boyish voice and street savvy tone are just right for Rick's character, and he hustles the listener briskly through a narrative that fares better as a quick listen. He does a great job with the Irish-born gangsters but is less adept with some of the nuances of the Boston accent. He seems undaunted by the large cast of characters and moves smoothly from scene to scene.
Kearney makes THE FIXER a satisfying summer listen. Audiophiles will look forward to seeing his name attached to other works in this and other genres.
§ An avid audiophile, Karla Jay is a retired professor of English and Women's & Gender Studies. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
Reviewed by Karla Jay, July 2015
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