Review: SCAM at Old River by Ian Banks - Blue Wolf Reviews
- Mike Mackay
- Jul 26, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 22
Reviewed By Ian Banks - Blue Wolf Reviews July 26, 2025
Based on a true story Scam at Old River is a fast paced, well-constructed mystery thriller from Mike Mackay and is also the first book in a series built around Jack Rhodes a computer forensic expert who is not afraid to get into the thick of a case when it is required.
A night in a bar celebrating a successful conclusion to his last case, a woman in his bed and a loud hammering on his door in the morning makes Jack think he is in the middle of a of as marital dispute.
When the woman hands him some papers, apologizes for dragging him into her mess and vanishes, he discovers there is far more, dangerously far more to a stranger knocking on his door asking for the woman who had been in his bed.
Set in San Francisco, Jack discovers the woman Debbie, was an accountant for a team of real estate scammers connected to the criminal underworld of LA.
He decides to try to find Debbie and to do so he taps into his resources within the Police Department. Going undercover, he poses as a salesman for the Company. When he gets a call from a man who wants to buy a large plot of land, he discovers that not everything is as it seems and through him, he meets Stella, a woman with money, charisma, and information.
The trail leads to Chinatown, a place which is full of danger and the closer Jack gets to finding the people behind the scam, the more danger he and Stella seem to attract. Who wants to stop them and why?
Scam at Old River has wide appeal for anyone who enjoys a solid story line filled with action, a delicate overlay of possible romance and an enticing conclusion which leaves the door open for the next book featuring Jack Rhodes.
