Book #27–Moving Day

Moving Day grabbed me from the beginning. It wasn’t what I expected, and at some point, I couldn’t put it down.

A couple in their 70s is moving. When the movers show up a day early, the husband is surprised, but he thinks he might be just misremembering. Most of the book is from his point of view, but there are a few chapters from the movers.

In this case, they pack things up, and leave, surprised the couple is spending the night in an empty house. They’ve wealthy, on their way to Santa Barabara, but we find out this husband, an immigrant from WWII wants to spend the night the way they started, on the floor on a mattress. It’s a good thing because when they wake up the next morning, the real movers arrive.

It’s a scam, one that plays out quickly. The movers find out about wealthy elderly couples leaving, and they show up a day early, robbing people. Since most people leave right away, they don’t discover they’ve been robbed for a week or more. Nick, the thief, has a good scam going, and it’s a good one. Robbing wealthy people, retreating to his 150acre hideout in Montana. However he doesn’t see this coming.

Peke, the old man, realizes his safe deposit key is in the desk that was taken. He suspects the thief will come back somehow, and he gets  duplicate made and then plants a tracking device in an old German watch he has. His suspicion is the their will come back and he’s right. Using hired help, he robs the deposit box a week or so later, and then Peke is on the trail. He tracks the watch to Montana, waits for the moving  truck to leave again, and then calls his son, who sends another semi from the company he owns.

It’s actually a quick read, but we get a lot of thought into actions and decisions. We get inside the minds of the characters and understand why they make their moves. It’s interesting as we explore the interactions, the motivations, and we get hints of the two characters’ pasts, as well as the wife. She goes along as they retrieve their goods in Montana and get to Santa Barbara. However we also see her struggles when Peke is kidnapped and the thieves want their goods back. It’s a wild ride, one that I could put down less and less as I got into it.