Lucky Stiffs

Ever imagine winning a big lottery? How would it change your life? Admit it, we all fantasize…But not all stories have happy endings…. On March 23rd, 2004, Jasper and Rosalee Pinkus of Dearborn, Michigan were catapulted overnight into affluence and notoriety when they became recipients of a $105 million jackpot from a single ticket purchase in the state’s lottery. But to everyone’s surprise, exactly one year later—to the day—the money had vanished…And so had the Pinkuses.

Caught in the wake from the accidental deaths of his paternal aunt and uncle, third-year UCLA law student, Dillon Dorin, stumbles upon evidence suggesting a possible conspiracy. As with other cases, his aunt and uncle were also winners of a sizable lottery jackpot; and similarly, by the time of their mysterious deaths, most of the funds had disappeared into a maze of offshore funds, and trail-less ghost accounts. The authorities? Baffled. But a series of bombings and violent murders keep a seasoned U.S. Marshal, teamed with an inexperienced IRS agent, tracking a trail of money, and the merciless killer. When the killer discovers Dillon’s research, friends and family are threatened. All the while, a plot is being developed by a covert international banking cartel to fix one of the nation’s largest multi-state lotto games. Greed and power are the motives; but murder and mayhem chase our young protagonist from the beaches of Los Angeles to the back alleys of storm-tossed New Orleans. Along the way he discovers what true treasure is.

Screenwriter, and author of an earlier novel, A Town Called Whippledale, Lives in Houston with his wife and two grown children who run a performing arts studio.