Fred Fuller is a poor but ambitious college student with dreams of a future in politics. He sees himself as being an honest and moral person but when confronted with the chance of a lifetime, not once . . . but twice he discovers the shallowness of his morality. While on his job as a messenger for Bank USA he goes into a deserted bank and is confronted by an open vault filled with millions of dollars. The first time, unprepared to take advantage of the situation, he calls his boss to report it. But when it happens again Fred's moral values are shattered as he takes the money and attempts to flee the country.

Twice Tempted, Bill Manchee's first novel, was inspired by actual events that occurred to the author. Sex, greed, and moral ambiguities are the choice ingredients in this thriller set in California in the sixties. A wild ride of an adventure, for both Fred and the readers.

Joe Bob Book Club by Joe Bob Briggs

Twice Tempted by William Manchee

When a former eagle scout from a religious family goes off to college in the early 1960s, he is a model citizen, but, after he receives ridicule instead of praise for politely closing the vault of a bank and not stealing any money, he changes. When the vault is left open a second time, Fred doesn't let other people's money sit around for long before it is warming the backseat of his VW. Since the nice Catholic girl he's started to date wouldn't approve of this change, he finds a nasty girl who would.

We know these devilish plans will come to no good, not because crime doesn't pay (the kid's planning to be a lawyer, so we don't know how firm a grasp he has on morality), but because Fred has a recurring dream with a beautiful woman coming naked to him in a wooded glade. She responds to him sexually, but then lapses into an angry fit before her death. Whenever he has this dream, the nightmare that follows is a prediction of the future. He's had this dream since being bitten by a poisonous snake as a child. Perhaps the premonitions are an effect of almost dying from the venom. Shortly before he steals the bank's money, Fred dreams of the woman and then has a shakingly realistic dream that he is an inmate in a long line of prisoners heading to their cells. We know this must be in store for Fred, but we continue to read because we would like to see him cheat his preordained fate. Beating fate becomes especially tough midway through the book when his horrifying dream comes true. The law catches up with him and he goes on trial.

This book, written by an attorney, is long on courtroom action. If you ever watched Court TV all day, thrilled to the "Perry Mason" reunion show, or leapt from the couch during the O.J. Simpson trial to shout "Objection!," then this book will be riveting. But even with the painstaking courtroom detail, this book is not totally a courtroom thriller. For one thing, there is the occasional naked girl in a lake. Also, much of it has the sort of wistful sense of a coming-of-age story as Fred loses his innocence. There is lightness and humor in a story that, written by another author, would be terribly dark.

Fred, his premonitions, and his moral struggle are not a deep and involved story, but this is not a long book. The author does not digress, but gets to the plot, on to the action, and then to the conclusion. He could probably have spent more time explaining exactly why Fred would take the naughty girl to the lake where he was bitten by a snake, or he could have given us a deeper look into Fred's psyche as he goes all pathological, but he doesn't. He keeps us just interested enough to keep reading long enough to find out if he makes out okay. 3 stars.

Top Publications, 1996, $17.95

Reviewed by Amanda Flynn

REVIEW FROM FALL, 1997 ISSUE OF RAPPORT MAGAZINE

TWICE TEMPTED

by William Manchee

TAKE A RIDE on reading, pass go, collect $6.7 million and go directly to jail. It's not Monopoly but it's just as fun. Manchee provides an awesome adventure for the thrill-seeking reader. This book swells the imagination, tests loyalty and probes morals and values.

Fred Fuller is a UCLA student majoring in political science with hopes of becoming a lawyer. Working as a bank messenger, Fuller has total access to several banks after hours. With all that money sitting around, you'd think that employers would really screen their applicants before hiring, but evidently not in Fuller's case. Knowing $6.7 million is in an open vault can't keep this Eagle Scout, congressional intern and Good Samaritan from using his "five finger discount" (aka stealing). He prematurely launches his legal career when he cleverly outwits the law into believing he's not the original thief of the bank's robbery.

Getting the money out of the bank is a piece of cake. But it's when a bank cashier dies in Fuller's arms during the big rip-off that adds murder to the charges and further complicates his getaway. Still, this lawyer-to-be uses his legal instincts to wipe away any incriminating evidence he may have left behind. Switching his license plates, changing the paint on his car, making plans to leave the country-he's already guilty until proven innocent!

By now, Fuller's only hope is seeking the investigative skills of his best buddies to get him out of this mess. Steve Robins and Randy Hanson, Fuller's best friends, travel across the globe and spend their life savings to help Fuller's case. Yet, despite the abundant male camaraderie Fuller gets from Robins and Hanson, their companionship is not enough. Further muddying his life, Fuller attempts to maintain romantic relationships with two completely opposite women. One provides explicit, lustful sex while the other offers loving support providing she keeps her virginity until their wedding night. Unfortunately, wedding bells are held off when one of the leading ladies dies from rattlesnake bites. When will the misery end? Surprisingly, the person you'd least expect to hang around after this chaos pulls through for Fuller and adds to a very happy ending.

A fantastically written novel with a handful of twists and turns. Twice Tempted gives the readers hours of anticipation as the story unfolds. R.R.

TWICE TEMPTED

 by William Manchee
Top Publications - Nov. 1999
ISBN: 096663665 - Trade Paperback
Reviewed by Pam Stone
Fiction/General

It's 1966 and 19-year-old Fred Fuller is living a full life. He's a student at UCLA during the day, and at night, he works as a messenger for Bank USA.  As a bank messenger, Fred delivers and picks up data processing from a half dozen banks between Ventura and Fillmore, California. Fred considers him self a virtuous and exemplary person, but will he feel the same when he finds himself twice tempted?

William Manchee has successfully penned another outstanding novel, keeping me spell bound throughout. I hesitate to say too much, because it's one of those books which proves true that "all is not as it seems," and I don't  want to give too much away. I will say this, the plot was free flowing with plenty of twists and turns, and I was clueless all the way up to end and what an ending it was!

TWICE TEMPTED will have readers questioning their own morals and values, and wondering how they would react if faced with the same situation.  Pam Stone

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