Sunk Costs

Three common expressions –” follow the money,” ” there’s no honor among thieves,” and “left hanging at the end of a rope” — sum up Sunk Costs in a nutshell. Money: Dan, a streetwise hitchhiker is picked up by a woman who offers him $8,000 to break into an office and steal the key to a safe deposit box supposedly containing half a million dollars. Honor: Mid break-in, Kate, a CPA in the firm, intervenes with a counter proposal, and Dan promptly switches allegiance. In search of the money, which proves harder to find than first thought, the pair encounter various characters, each of whom is working an angle and is more than willing to double-cross his or her partner if it puts cash in their pocket. Rope: the huge problem with Sunk Costs is that the hoped-for surprise at the end of the hunt is missing. The story just…stops, seemingly only half way through. The scrapes Dan and Kate get into and the fast-talking they have to do to get out of them are entertaining but not nearly enough to satisfy most mystery fans, who will expect more of a reward for reading to the end than just a full stop.