What would you do if you had the chance to become a small part of “history?” Or at least try and right the wrongs of the past? In The Rightful Heirs Tom Schuyler he blends the past with the present in an intriguing premise that has a Pilot Instructor stumbling upon a conspiracy of men who are seeking a multimillion-dollar fortune. As the mystery deepens, our hero Jim Riley gets help from an older cold war Spy named Rolly Hunter and a mysterious woman named Mary Reison who we don’t know whether she’s friend, enemy or if she has her own agenda. The book answers the question what would $4 million in Gold, Bonds, Securities deposited in 24 Swiss Bank Accounts 70 years ago be worth today.
The story is about six Jewish Industrialist at the beginning of WWII who takes steps to try and protect their family fortune. At the time the writing was on the wall, but the men still held out hope that things wouldn’t get as bad as it would eventually become. One of the six men convinced the others to let an Italian friend secure their money in the hopes of using it to rebuild Italy after the war ended. None of them knew what was in store for them. Seventy years later one of their last descendents entrusts a mysterious book to Jim.
Schuyler does a good job in telling this story, his writing style is brisk but gets bogged down when he touches on topics that he truly loves and understands namely anything to do with Jim and his piloting prowess. Schulyer goes into loving detail about the plane, what makes it tick and how well it flies. The early chapters of the book were a bit of a chore to get through, but once the story picks up and all the characters are finally introduced it goes along nicely.
The story of the six Jews is told in flashback form and we really get to know who these men were and what motivated them. We also get a nice look into what made the main villain who he is today and how Rolly Hunter became involved in this entire adventure through a series of flashbacks. Generally, I’m not a fan of flashbacks, but Schuyler does a fine job of using them to push the story forward. The story is visually well told, I can easily see this as a movie.
I admire anyone who writes stories, but I especially admire folks like Schuyler. After spending 22 years teaching high school English and Drama. At the ripe young age of 74 this is his first book.
Other than it taking awhile for the book to kick into gear, my other minor complaint about the book is the bad guy who was smart and in control throughout most of the book goes completely nuts at the end and is dispatched of rather simply. His “mental” break felt completely out of character for someone who was ruthless and shallow but never nuts. The Rightful Heirs is available on Amazon and the official website is Here.
Final Grade B-
EM Review
By Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 04/05/2011