Patsy Boatwright spends every Wednesday night the same way...curled up on the couch with a drink waiting for the winning Jackpot numbers. Even though week after week she is disappointed, she knows without a doubt that sooner or later, her numbers will win. And she was right, one night she falls on her knees screaming "Grace Of God, Grace Of God, Grace Of God" over and over. She had won three hundred and eighteen million dollars.

Romeo and Shaw are on their way from Ohio to Florida when they stop at a convenience store to check their tire pressure. One of them overhears a clerk on her cell phone talking about the store selling the state Jackpot winning ticket. Together they hold the Boatwrights hostage, telling them they'll murder some family members if they don't cooperate. This is another book that I feel must have a short review for fear of posting spoilers. The author has done a good job of letting us get to know these characters. They are all so different it kept me interested and entertained. George Dawes Green has added many facets to this book, and some were hilarious, the power Shaw has over everyone. I love this book because it's full of a different kind of suspense than most books. You're not trying to figure out who the bad guys are, you already know that. The suspense is waiting to see how it all ends. I hope to see more from this author. ( )

Mitch and Patsy Boatwright have won the lottery, making them overnight millionaires. They are a dysfunctional family living in rural Georgia. Patsy is an alcoholic and, prior to winning the big prize, was borderline abusive - especially on the nights of the lottery drawings. Tara, their oldest daughter, just wanted out. She did the best she could to avoid her mother on the night's they drew the lottery. Mitch owns a local office supply store and is as deeply religious as he is ineffectual. The glue that really holds the family together is Nell, Patsy's mother. Winning the lottery seems like it may be the answer to the family's prayers. They will no longer need monetarily and and there is hope, perhaps, that the disappearance of that stressor will change everything. Unfortunately, Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko, two drifters from Ohio, overhear about the family's good fortune while stopping briefly at a gas station and hatch a plot of terror to steal half of the winnings from themselves.

This novel is full of interesting psychological insights. Patsy fairly easily falls under Shaw's spell and even when the lives of her husband, mother, or daughter are at risk, she's still dreaming of that Malibu mansion. Shaw uses that and her alcohol addiction to keep her in her place. Tara's situation is even more complex. She has an understanding of Stockholm Syndrome and she hates what Shaw is doing to her father, but even she feels a pull toward him, an attraction that she tries to deny. It was also interesting how Shaw began to buy his own press after people from all over the country flock to him, believing that his participation in buying the winning lottery ticket is the ultimate sign of God's redemption. Those scenes reminded me a great deal of Jodi Picoult's Keepig Faith. The best part of the novel for me, however, was the internal work that Romeo goes through as he continually drives around the town and contemplates having to kill innocent people for his best friend. He has to come to terms with being made the muscle in a plan he didn't originally want any part of all out of loyalty to his best friend.

I did not dislike Ravens. I thought there were some interesting, although not necessarily likable, characters and the end of the novel kept me reading. I cannot say that I liked this novel, though. The basic premise is quite promising. I'm sure that this would be the worst nightmare of anyone who plays the lottery with dreams of winning it all. This novel wasn't all it could have been for me because I could not suspend my disbelief enough to buy Shaw being able to take and hold the family captive as easily as he did. Shaw and Romeo might have had a sordid past, but they were not just looking for something illegal to do. They simply stopped at a gas station and overheard news of a local lottery winner. Within 24 hours, they were executing their hastily made plans. While I believe one could quite easily discover enough information about a family from a teenager's MySpace pages, I cannot believe that the lottery commission or local law enforcement as a whole wouldn't be slightest bit suspicious of Shaw's story.

Ravens was the first novel published by George Dawes Green in several years. I have not read any of his earlier work, but the hype certainly had me anticipating something more sinister and cohesive. Perhaps family's in crisis are easily targeted and picked off by violent con artists, but that just didn't work for me. Even so, I can't believe that two people not already looking to terrorize a family can stumble upon the perfect situation, decide upon a plan in less than 24 hours, make it work, and get away with it for as long as Shaw and Romeo did without making huge mistakes. Ravens never had an edge for me. It is interesting as a character or psychological study, but if you are looking for a psychological thriller, I would suggest reading The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris or just about anything by Steven King first. It isn't that Ravens is a horrible novel. It's not. It's just hard to be on the edge of your seat when you don't believe the bad guy could ever be successful. ( )

Shaw and Romeo were passing through town. They stopped at a truck stop to check their tires. Shaw overheard the clerk discussing the lottery. Seems a local had won the jackpot of over 300 million dollars. A plan began to form in his mind.

The men held the Boatwrights hostage. If they did not cooperate they would murder their relatives.

My summary is short because I do not want to spoil this book for other readers. Green successfully combines humor and suspense to create an unforgettable thriller. The characters come to life on the pages of this book. I was amazed as Shaw became almost a folk hero among not only the people of the town but his captives. He was obviously a sociopath yet he convinced people he was their savior. Each character had a distinct voice. I found myself rooting for the sheriff. I wanted him to be successful in capturing the villains and with Miss Nell. Miss Nell was a delightful character. She was feisty and interesting. Tara was the most intelligent one in her family. The Boatwrights were a stereo type peek into the life of a southern lower class down on their luck family. They were an exaggeration of a way of life. Patsy was a heavy drink lottery playing wife/mother. Mitch was a husband/father; he seemed to lack confidence in himself. Romeo was the villain with redeeming qualities.

The ending of this book was surprising. I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened to the family.

Raven is well done. My husband and I listened to this book while on vacation. More than once we sat in the car a bit longer than necessary so hear what would happen next. Raven not only held our attention, it captures listeners. The readers are excellent. Do not miss this audio book! ( )

This one was a page turner. I was so hooked right from the word go with this one.

The story was narrated by a few different characters. It jumped back and forth, but it didn't seem choppy. The story just goes on, but from a different perspective. It wasn't like it would switch to a new character and rehash what the last character just told us.

The writing was good. There was only one thing that bothered me, when a character is talking the author would use Said Shaw instead of Shaw Said. But that was really the only thing I didn't like.

I liked the beginning, it gave us enough info about the characters to pull me into the story, without giving so much detail that it became mundane. It follows the Boatwright family and then friends Shaw and Romeo. The Boatwrights win the lottery and that's when Shaw and Romeo really enter the picture.

The suspense in this novel doesn't come from not knowing what's going on. Quite the opposite, we know what's going on right from the word go. The suspense comes from hoping that someone will slip and everyone else will know what is going on. I would say it's more psychological that physical suspense.

The ending threw me for a loop. And while the last passage confused me a little it still was a great ending.

Overall good writing and a great story. ( )

Romeo was driving down from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the baffling twilight, going too fast, when a raccoon or possum ran in front of the car. The impact was disturbingly gentle. No thud -- just a soft unzipping, beneath the chassis.

So opens Ravens, the premise of which I knew going in: Romeo and Shaw, on a drive to Florida from their tech-support jobs in Ohio, decide to stop en route and co-opt half of a huge lottery prize from the winners. But what surprised me was that the opening paragraph concludes by painting the villains likeable (Still, it tore at Romeo’s heart. He braked and pulled over.) and, further down the page, playful. And what hooked me were the next few pages, where I developed an intriguing dislike for the good guys -- the lottery-winning Boatwright family.

The novel’s strength is its ability to hold me in that incongruence. It also held me in a state of suspended disbelief -- after all, who would believe that the winners of $318 million would acquiesce when a couple strangers announce they’re taking half? Yet every time I wondered about the believability of characters’ actions, George Dawes Green showed me their motivations and brought me back in. It’s a fun, comic novel (not all of it dark comedy), populated by an entertaining ensemble of small-town-Georgia characters; subplots and twists that are well earned; and suspense that is more compelling (inquisitive; page-turning) than scary. Recommended! ( )