McMillions by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for McMillions:

Happy Meal with a side of fraud.

Quick synopsis:

The story of how no one really won the Monopoly game at McDonald’s.

Fact for Non-History People:

McDonald’s executives are required to work at a restaurant for a week.

Fact for History Nerds:

The chances of winning one of the big Monopoly prizes was one in one hundred million. You know, if there wasn’t fraud.

My Take on McMillions:

A few disclaimers up front. First, I did not see the McMillions documentary before I read this book, so I went in totally fresh. Second, I worked at McDonald’s as a teenager. What does that have to do with the book? Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to tell you.

The book McMillions is written by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte who are the producers/writers/directors of the documentary. If you don’t know the backstory, then I have news for you. If you remember the McDonald’s Monopoly game, then you of course remember how huge a deal it was. Well, turns out, you couldn’t win. Not unless you were part of the conspiracy to steal the winning game pieces. (Childhood RUINED!)

The book is an easy read and interesting throughout with no dead spots in the narrative. The authors add dialogue whenever they can and the tone is light for the most part. That does lead to a bit of tonally whiplash at times. There are some people whose lives were destroyed by this case and the authors treat their stories solemnly. However, the tone might veer quickly back to lighthearted. It’s nothing fatal for the flow of the book and it’s handled well, but it is noticeable.

The only thing which kept this from being a no-doubt five-star book for me was the uneven coverage of some of the main characters. There is a woman who has a heartbreaking story, and the authors give her some well-deserved focus in the middle of the book. However, she becomes more of a footnote after that as another character takes over the narrative. I would have liked a bit more time with a few people and for the timeline to stay a bit more linear. These are minor quibbles and should not make anyone shy away from picking this book up.

(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)

Verdict:

Come on, you know you want to. Buy it here!