w-witted he may be (probably due to Asperger's; his illness is never identified), Perry is very, very good at one thing: sticking to a routine and taking things one step at a time. Which is why he's able to get by on his own at a ridiculously meager salary--$528/month--until the day he wins $12 million in the state lottery. Now everyone, including Perry's scumbag relatives--who'd cheated him out of his rightful inheritance and forced him out of Gram's house right after the funeral--are holding out their hands for money. Well-aware of his special new status and that others desire to take advantage of him (having been told he's the suggestive type by Gram most everyday of his life), Perry must now navigate a totally unfamiliar world where manipulation, deception and misinformation crop up at every turn.Though the author keeps the reader guessing as to how the story will end, the resolution is justifiable and genuinely satisfying. Definitely taking a page from the Rain Man/Forrest Gump/Awakenings school of thought, Woods succeeds at portraying a mentally challenged person as a fully fleshed-out, well-functioning adult human being whose good-hearted, benevolent nature makes for a better world. Yet Wood does well to navigate away from oversentimentalism, carefully keeping both the plot and Perry's persona within the bounds of conceptual reality. The strength of this story is Perry's charm, which, matched to his superior ethical integrity, makes for one appealing read, pleasantly fulfilling right up until the conclusion. (FIC WOOD)
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