Sunday, August 11, 2019

Rich and Gone

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. W. F. Ranew will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

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PI Red Farlow is on the hunt to find $300 million a Florida insurance executive has bilked out of family and friends.

Woody Cunningham stashed the money in safe havens around the world before disappearing. Has he been done in by one of his enemies? Or did he skip town with his girlfriend to live off the ill-gotten wealth? If that’s the case, where is he?

Farlow must quickly learn how and why people hide their money in offshore accounts if he's to find out what happened to Cunningham.

When a tough guy from Farlow's past resurfaces, wanting to settle an old score, Farlow discovers he also has links to the missing man. Clues lead him across Georgia and Florida, and Europe, to find the answers.

Is Woody Cunningham dead, or just rich and gone?

My review...
I thought this story started out a little slow, but I kept reading because I liked Red Farlowe, P.I. A great character that W. F. Ranew created in this first book of a series. Red’s retired from the Georgia FBI and I enjoyed the southern thinking and styles of many of the characters and found myself being caught up in some of those beautiful southern drawls as well as the sights and scenes in the countries Red travels to.  Rich and gone has to do with a wealthy, powerful man being as you can imagine…rich. But is he gone or dead? That’s the reason Red has a case.

As you can already deduce, I didn’t think Ranew’s story stayed slow. It seemed to pick up and sort of take off. It may be that the initial explanation to introduce us was a little slow, but his storytelling and his writing fell right into place. Writing from a character’s point of view is not always easy but the author did a good job here. I also enjoyed Red’s love of his life, Leigh. It gave a tough, gritty, crime fiction story a softness and a breath of fresh air. Nice combination.


As I said, this was the first book in a series. I sure hope Red Farlowe gets hired on some other cases because I’d like to read more about him. 



Read an excerpt...
As we went inside, I reached back to touch my pistol. At the threshold to the kitchen, I flipped on the living room lights and looked around. Nothing looked out of place in the larger room. The kitchen posed a different scene. I didn’t go into the room because of the mess. There could be evidence there, in the worst case. I suspected the worst case. You get that feeling sometimes.

I walked through the rest of the house, with Julie behind me. I turned down a long hallway, at the end of which glowed light from what we found to be the master bedroom. I stepped cautiously to the door and looked inside. The horrible scene instinctively sent me bringing my gun out and at the ready. But instead of proceeding, I turned around and pulled Julie back down the hall.

“What is it?”

“You don’t need to see this, Julie.”

She paused and put her hands over her face. She stood there a moment, dropped her hands, and said, “Red, I’m a reporter. I’ve probably seen worse.”

“Lord, lady, I hope not.”

With that, she stood beside me to look into the bedroom. Her scream wasn’t nearly as loud as I expected, but it echoed throughout the house. She screamed again, and yet again. I put an arm around her shoulder. She sank into me.


In the room, Rye Whitworth’s body sprawled face up across his bed. The sheets, which likely started out white, bore a strong resemblance to a ritual slaughter pit. Blood soaked into the covers and mattress. Rye’s right hand dangled over the bed over a large pool of blood. Someone had stabbed him repeatedly.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

W.F. Ranew is the author of Rich and Gone, a Red Farlow mystery set for publication May 29, 2019, by Tirgearr Publishing.

Ranew is a former newspaper reporter, editor, and communication executive. He started his journalism career covering sports, police, and city council meetings at his hometown newspaper, The Quitman Free Press. He also worked as a reporter and editor for The Augusta Chronicle, The Florida Times-Union, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he was a news editor.

Ranew has written two previous novels: Schoolhouse Man and Candyman’s Sorrow.

He lives in Atlanta and St. Simons Island, Ga.

Website: wfranew.com

Tirgearr book page: 





Twitter: @wfranew


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