I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Secret Billionaire
by Teymour Shahabi
Series: Surway Fortune #1
Series Rating:
Published by Inc., PageWing on September 29, 2016
Genres: YA Mystery
Pages: 370
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Someone in the Walls
1960s — March 24. Billionaire Lyndon Surway takes off in his private plane and never returns.
His will leaves the entirety of his wealth—one of the largest fortunes in history—to his “dear friend Lucian Baker.” Only there is no trace of anyone by that name. And the fortune itself is nowhere to be found.
Andrew Day knows nothing of wealth and privilege, but he won a scholarship to study at the most exclusive school in the country, in the town where the mystery, decades later, remains unsolved. There he discovers friendship and danger with the aristocratic Cameron and the beautiful Olivia. But watchful eyes follow him everywhere... Until, one night, he comes across a secret that will change his life. As he begins to unravel what really happened to the Surway fortune, the question remains: who is Lucian Baker?
Wow, The Secret Billionaire by Teymour Shahabi was a great book. I knew it would be when I read the plot of the book. This book, by far, is my favorite one of this year!
I couldn’t put this book down
The book captivated me from that email, and even more after I started the book. I have to say that this book was better than I thought it would be, and it kept me trying to figure out who this Lucian Baker fellow was throughout the whole thing. The person who is Lucian Baker was definitely a big surprise. This book is a great young adult mystery thriller book that I have ever read.
The main character
The main character is a fourteen-year-old boy named Andrew Day. Andrew had a tough life until he got a scholarship to Saint Clemens and started school there. He is a pretty smart young man who is trying to figure out why he is there and why he was picked to be the Saint Clemens scholarship kid. He loves being at Spring Forge as if it has always been home to him and is also wanting to figure out who this Lucian Baker person is. Andrew grew from this shy kid at the beginning of the book to a friendly, talkative kid at the end.
The secondary characters
To me, there are three secondary characters in this book. The first one is named Elder, who plays a minimal role that is more in the background until the end, and that’s all I can say of him without revealing too much. The other two are Olivia Glayds and Cameron Renfrowe.
We don’t meet the second two until Andrew is at the school, and he sees them in the assembly hall. Olivia is the mayor’s daughter and has a nonsense attitude about her until you get to know her, then she isn’t like any other spoiled rich kid there at the school. Olivia is also always, well almost always, around Cameron, who is her best friend. She also changed a lot from the beginning of the book to the end.
Cameron is different from Olivia. Whereas Olivia gives off a ‘you can’t talk to me’ type of attitude, Cameron is the type of person that wants to socialize with people. These three characters Andrew, Olivia, and Cameron, aren’t the usual three characters to be friends. Olivia and Cameron are super rick and have been friends for a while, and Andrew is the new guy that no one knows. Cameron didn’t change much as he is still the kid that loves to socialize with people. Everyone finds him easy to talk to as he is a good listener.
The evil guy
The main antagonist is a guy that doesn’t change at all in the book. He is an evil guy and is immediately someone that anyone will not like at all. He is also rich in his own right but wants the Surway fortune for himself since he’s always wanted it since Lyndon Surway went missing. Throughout the book, he just got eviler and wanting more power/money.
Five Stars for The Secret Billionaire
The Secret Billionaire by Teymour Shahabi is an excellent book, and I’m rating it five-stars. Mr. Shahabi is a great author and can’t wait to read other books by him in the future. He has a way to transport you into his books and makes you feel like you are there with the characters.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by
Baroness’ Book Trove.
About Teymour Shahabi
Teymour Shahabi was born in Paris of Persian parents in 1985. He moved to the United States to study Comparative Literature and Mathematics at Harvard University. He lives in New York City where he’s spent the last few years among serious professionals, many of whom probably prefer to read nonfiction. “The Secret Billionaire” is his first published book.
Dear Baroness,
Thank you for this extremely kind review, which I took in from beginning to end like a chest-warming cup of hot chocolate. You’re a tremendously generous and insightful reader; your enjoyment of this book is a real gift to the author. I’m especially glad that you enjoyed spending time with the characters–and I wonder if you’ll find that Cameron changes a bit in the sequel…
Best regards,
Teymour Shahabi