Title: Dan Green vs. The Identity Thief
Author: Warren Robinson
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
ISBN: 979-8896492375
Pages: 179
Genre: Thriller
Reviewer: Subhrajit Saha

Read Book Review

Imagine you are a financially sorted aged person with a lot of money in the bank and living – more or less – a healthy family life. In addition to that you are thinking of retiring from your job and enjoying the rest of life in your most desired way. At that time something very unfortunate happens changing your economic, societal, and mental state forever. Suddenly you see you are nothing but a loser to society and even your family abandoned you! How would you react in such a devastating situation? Exactly something similar happens to the protagonist of Warren Robinson’s novel, Dan Green vs. The Identity Thief.

Dan Green, aged 45, a successful investment banker, was born and brought up in Atlanta. He is living a financially and mentally secure life. Amy, his wife and childhood sweetheart is his backbone and strength of Dan. In one sunny morning his world turns upside down when Dan finds out that out of nowhere, he is bankrupt and the whole Atlanta police is searching for him. He has no clue as to what is going on, and along with that Amy leaves him out of nowhere. On the other hand, Benjamin, a fraud, is on a journey to destroy Dan and his company. Initially he gets overnight success on his mission but there only the story begins. Being one of the big tycoons in the United States’ investment banking world Dan’s case got the attention of the whole nation and there started the cat-and-mouse chase between Dan, Police and Benjamin.

On the other hand, there are stakeholders, the company board of directors, and a few other bodies who are directly or indirectly associated with the case. The more the story unfolds the more it gets plot-heavy with a lot of things happening like identity fraud, a terrifying storm, car chase, bounty hunters, using weapons like a toy and so on. Now the question arises what is Benjamin’s mission? Why did Amy, being Dan’s family, leave him? Being such an influential person, will Dan leave the fraud like anything? Who is Benjamin? How can he so easily fool a whole security setup? For all the queries the only answer is to check out Robinson’s intriguing thriller novel.

As per the most connecting part with the novel is its idea of identity steal. There are plenty of people in the world getting fraud on a regular basis. In this fast-moving world, the internet is the most basic thing for connectivity and fraudsters have made their den on that. Mostly aged and not so tech savvy people are facing these kinds of issues where at the end of the day they have nothing to live with except trauma. In the title ‘Dan Green vs. The Identity Thief,’ our protagonist is also dealing with such a thing so readers who have gone through or at least read about the similar situation could easily connect with the message of the author.

Apart from the hard-hitting social commentary there are a few things making the book an enjoyable read. The emotional depth between characters like the bond of Dan and Amy, the moment our protagonist gets the news of Amy on Television, readers can feel the pain of Dan as they are already invested with their track. Along with that the concern of Susan, regarding his husband’s profession, generates empathy for the character. Mostly, Dan’s journey, his character arc, makes the reader well connected to him and so they can feel his joy, rage, etc. feelings. Overall, the thrilling atmosphere, contemporary message, character camaraderie and many more other things make Robinson’s book an engaging read.

Dan Green vs. The Identity Thief is a socially relevant novel that asks unsettling questions about digital footprints, privacy, and how easily our lives can be rewritten. Robinson delivers a gripping, thought-provoking read.