Don Winslow – Beautiful Ride (Audio)

Title: Beautiful Ride
Author: Don Winslow
Narrator: Kerry Shale
Publisher: www.bmw-audiobooks.com with Random House
First Published: 2006
Running time: 51 min 9 sec
Format: Audio Book (short story)
Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:
Back then he was looking at a fat IPO and a boat. Back then he was rich. Back then he had a condo overlooking the ocean, a wife, and had just bought the BMW Z4 convertible. Cobalt blue, like the ocean on a clean, clear day in early spring. Now what he has left is the car. Ted's a real estate investor in Laguna Beach, California. He's been kicked out by his soon-to-be ex wife, his assets have been frozen by the IRS, he's holding on to his Beemer, but the car company's repo men want it back, and he's living in a tent. He's falling through the cracks of the 'Gold Coast' life, until he turns to money-laundering to get back in the game. Then things get worse...

Review:
The car theme continues (as expected, seeing as how these four short stories were sponsored by BMW). Although the character once had everything and has lost it all, it was all presented in such a way that I didn't envy his previous lifestyle, nor did I pity his current circumstances – it was more a case of empathising with him...

It was a non-stop affair - a classic case of misdirection that kept me guessing till I realised I'd been handed the answer earlier on but it hadn't registered till the right moment. Very cleverly written and also well-read, with good voice characterisation that was very entertaining.