First published back in September of 2024, UK author Kit Power’s novel ‘Millionaires Day’ offered up a tale of spiralling chaos brought about by a wild and seemingly inexplainable phenomena. The story formed the third book in a loose-trilogy involving the ‘Finite Protocol’.
What happened on the morning of Sunday, 22nd December 2019 was as inexplainable as it was life changing. All over the UK, people were waking to find black suitcases nestled away under their beds, mattresses, or sofas. Wherever people had been sleeping, a suitcase had appeared.
Inside each of these suitcases was tightly bound bundles of cash. Stacks of neatly laid out twenty-pound notes, just waiting to be discovered. Each suitcase containing exactly one million in unused, crisp new notes.
How the suitcases got to be there, no one seemed to know. Why all of a sudden such vast amounts of hard cash had appeared, again, there seemed to be no clear answer. Whatever the reason, the implications of this event would be life changing, for better or worse.
Within the high-rise council housing of Melrose Tower, Pete Harding had woken with a thick head of post-drug haze. Next to him lay the still sleeping form of Crazy Amy. He had no memory of last night’s drug binge, nor the undoubted sexual exploits he’d partaken in with the block’s notorious slag. However, any feeling of distaste or regret was instantly swept away with the insanity of discovering the black case under his mattress and the contents within.
However, even at that early Sunday morning hour, Pate wasn’t alone in making such a discovery. Close by, Mental Mickey – the block’s thuggish and feared gang leader – had made a similar discovery. Despite his sociopathic tendencies, Mickey wasn’t a man to miss an opportunity.
Realising the potential magnitude of the situation presented to him, Mickey was quick to react. Quick to maximise on the good fortune that’d materialised on his doorstep. He didn’t want just one suitcase; he wanted every fucking case in the block. And with the brute force of his gang, he’d make sure that’s exactly what happened.
Realising the potential magnitude of the situation presented to him, Mickey was quick to react. Quick to maximise on the good fortune that’d materialised on his doorstep. He didn’t want just one suitcase; he wanted every fucking case in the block. And with the brute force of his gang, he’d make sure that’s exactly what happened.
Elsewhere, nine-year-old Emma Jacobs had woken in her mum’s car, finding a suitcase nestled under her small body. Discovering more money than her young mind can comprehend, she instantly begins to panic. The previous evening she’d been relegated to sleep in the car once again, whilst her mother had her boyfriend stay over. Now she didn’t know what to do. If she told her mum, then she’d probably get in trouble. Or her mum might spend the money on drugs which made her go funny and sleepy and care even less about Emma. But if she kept it secret, if she took some of the money for herself, she could go shopping for toys. Toys she’d only ever dreamed of having.
For Henry Jones the discovery of the cash brought instant action from him. As a homeless tramp, he’d woken in his tent, disturbed by the uncomfortable mound of the suitcase underneath him. The instant he’d laid eyes on the cash within; he was up and moving fast. He had no idea whose money it was, or how it’d gotten to be underneath him, but he intended to take the lot and get as far away from there as he could, before anyone else found it.
With each hour that creeps by, a chain reaction of events will see numerous lives thrown into a maelstrom of violent action. Whilst a thick fog enshrouds the high-rise tower, snaking off into the sprawling streets around it, a surge of violence is erupting, as greed takes hold of those who’d only ever dreamt of such money.
What might have been seen as life-changing good fortune, has become the catalyst for an explosion of violence. Whatever the outcome, for each and every person, after 22nd December, life will never be the same again…
Here we have the third instalment within a loosely connected trilogy incorporating ‘The Finite Protocol’. The first book within this ‘Kit Power Universe’ was ‘The Finite’ (2019), which dealt with the localised repercussions of nuclear fallout, ala ‘Threads’ (1984). In this initial novella we were introduced to the first tendrils of the ‘Finite Protocol’.
Then we had ‘A Song For the End’ (2020) – the second book to be loosely connected. Again, apocalyptic in its message, and again, we glimpse the ‘Finite Protocol’ appearing along a course to utter destruction.
Now we have ‘Millionaires Day’, a strangely imaginative “what if” plot, which sits like a precursor-cum-prequel to the aforementioned previous two books. Whispers of the ‘Finite Protocol’ and a governmental conspiracy once again pull the book into the bosom of this ‘Kit Power Universe’.
Despite this, as with the other books, it’s still very much a tale which stands on its own two feet. One which gets the juices of imagination flowing, inspiring your own pondering, and provoking potentially disturbing thoughts about aspects of human nature.
The premise of the book is about a national (if not global) epidemic; however, it focuses itself upon the repercussions within a small pocket of Milton Keynes, England. Here we follow a handful of vastly differing characters, faced with the same wild scenario, and how they each individually respond to what they discover.
Of course, these separate storylines eventually converge in some form or another. In fact, the linking between characters starts to reveal itself as a recurring theme throughout the book. Characters we’re becoming accustomed with, suddenly drop the bombshell that they’re in some way connected to another character, as the inner workings of the Kit Power engine cranks up a few more gears in its carefully calculated story telling.
You’ve no doubt guessed it that the discovery of a tonne of cash doesn’t necessarily bring out the best in folk. Mental Mickey being case in point. The fella’s a lunatic thug at the best of times, however, with the prospect of pulling in multiple millions, the guy’s cold, calculated and scary as sin. A man on a mission who doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone else.
However, Mickey isn’t the most heinous of characters to grace the pages of this novel. Instead, that malignant crown goes to a security guard named Kevin Winters. This psychopathic fuckhead is the absolute epitome of vile. The sort of character you’d find causing carnage within a Richard Laymon novel. The sort of character that’s created so well, you feel actual honest-to-god hatred for him.
We of course, have the other end of the spectrum. The most notable of which is nine-year-old Emma. With Emma we move into proper lump-in-throat territory. A true innocent if ever there was one. A girl who’s put up with shit, who’s barriers are up, and forges her way through life with tear-jerking bravery accompanied by an imaginary friend. Kit-the-bastard knows what he’s doing. He knows we’ve all formed protective bonds with this girl. And he uses that to his advantage, with an emotive assault upon our senses.
Ultimately what we have with ‘Millionaires Day’ is a window into human lives when faced with a life-changing phenomena. A “what if” scenario played out alongside with the harsh reality of how fucking shit mankind can be. We have characters from the previous books, but that does little to help us steer through the carnage and mayhem that follows. There’s just no predicting anything in this book.
This novel is imagination let loose upon a ‘faux-reality’. A blend of thriller, action, and almost dark sci-fi/horror. It’s compelling reading, with the characters at the very forefront of everything. Even the Alsatian, Major, has its own voice, a part to play in the tale, and his own impact upon the rich tapestry of the overarching story.
It’s an incredibly compelling character-driven read from start until its heart-in-mouth conclusion. Another magnificent offering from an author which no one can predict.
As imaginative as it is touchingly, sadistically, human.
The novel runs for a total of 226 pages.
© DLS Reviews
