The rich part of life - Jim Kokoris

The scars from his mother's death are barely beginning to form when Teddy Pappas' world is shaken anew by the family's lottery windfall. Soon he is immersed in a chaotic assembly of family, friends and foe, all with a vested interest in the Pappas family fortune. Protective Aunt Bess, would-be filmmaker Uncle Frankie, bodyguard Maurice, the vampiral Sylvanius and the predatory Mrs Wilcott gather in the Pappas household around Teddy's father, the unassuming, scholarly Theo. A Civil War historian more used to researching 19th century soldiers' footwear than tying his own sons' shoelaces, Theo must soon confront the fact that the wealth he has acquired may place in peril his most precious possession of all: his family. Through the eyes of his authentically eleven-year-old narrator, Kokoris explores the revelation of unexpected wealth and the joys and pitfalls of the father-son bond, in this witty and warm first novel.

Jim Kokoris is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He has been published in the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE and USA WEEKEND MAGAZINE. He lives with his wife and three sons in Chicago, where he is working on his second novel.