The Money Cure

De: Linda Peer

Narrado por: Benjamin Fife

What if avarice after billionaire-ism is just a subset of ordinary hoarding disorder? What if someone discovered a way to repair that? Who would benefit? Who would oppose such a cure, and how aggressively?

The Money Cure is a comic romantic adventure set in the near future, when a housing crisis forces working people, from retail employees to programmers, to live in illegal housing called underhousing.

Jemma is a beautiful loner with aspirations as a graphic novelist. She wants to make money to buy the time she needs to create a work of art. Employed in a menial job at a spa for the ultra-wealthy, her real ambition is to delight readers. Jemma also wants to acquire enough money, cash, assets, or whatever, to move out of her van, parked in underhousing. Financially challenged and stuck in a dead end job, Jemma devises an only slightly illegal plan to fix her money problem.

Oz Vasquez is a sociable, outgoing biologist. He is one of a group of scientists who believe the solution to the deepening housing crisis is a change in how people, especially billionaires, regard the acquisition of vast hoards of money. The scientists believe the ultra-wealthy behave as crudely and irrationally as dragons sitting on hoards of gold in fairy tales. They are searching for a cure for what they call the dread moneypox. If they find such a cure, some of them intend to administer it to the ultra-wealthy by any means necessary.

When Jemma and Oz meet, each secretly hopes to use the other to advance their scheme. Then they fall in love. Their intentions toward each other change, but their plans are already in motion. Their situation is complicated when they become entangled with a group of minor criminals called the Candy Mommies and Daddies. The Candies are masters of the misdemeanor, who sometimes step over the line into felony.

Will either Jemma or Oz, or both, succeed? Will they betray each other, or help each other? Will their love survive their ambitions?

©2023 Linda C. Peer (P)2023 Linda C. Peer

Hopeful gaze in a crystal ball of troubling times

These days it's common to see ads for medicines or procedures to handle a wide variety of ailments: balding, smoking, overeating, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, and more. It's not a stretch to imagine a few years from now even more breakthroughs in the area of behavioral modification, and The Money Cure by Linda Peer explores one such scenario in thoughtful depth and enticing outcomes. With a cast of down-to-earth characters that are as relatable as your current closest friends, Benjamin Fife expertly narrates a tale designed to expose conspiracies on both sides of the the wealth gap. A carefully constructed plan with delicately orchestrated collections of city dwellers end up risking their lives to enact societal change. The timely topic is sure to spark discussion amongst its listeners, and we can only hope that one day a similar fate will befall those money hoarders that we are all too familiar with.

A thoughtful book full of insights.

What a wonderful experience getting to listen to this title. I had no idea about it and would have passed on it had it not been recommended. It is full of twists and turns and relatable social mores that kept me wanting to know more. I feel like this could have been set in modern day Portland, OR, but maybe I am biased. I only wish the author's other titles were available on audio.
Another reason to select this title is the narrator. I have listened to hundreds of books and this may be the best narrator I've ever heard. Amazing. Felt, at times, like I was listening to a full cast recording. I will certainly be checking out more of his titles.