In Rex Beach's âThe Ne'er-Do-Wellâ Kirk Anthony is a rich, playboy who enjoys the lavish lifestyle of expensive dinners, fancy cars, and the New York Night Life, despite his fatherâs pleas for him to settle down and do some real work. Kirk wonât stop having a good time with his fatherâs money until one of his drunken friends is persuaded, by a man trying to escape the law, to play a fun âtrickâ on Kirk. Kirk is kidnapped by his own friends and put on a ship to Panama with no money and the wanted manâs identity. Working to earn his passage home, Kirk is shocked to find that his father is tired of his irresponsible lifestyle and refuses to help him out of this situation. The perfect novel for fans of âWindfallâ starring Jason Segal and Jesse Plemons, or âAll the Money in the Worldâ.
Rex Beach, was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His novels, most of which were adventure novels, were influenced by Jack London â author of âWhite Fangâ â and they were very popular during the early 1900s. His second novel, âThe Spoilersâ which was based on a true experience he witnessed while in Alaska of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, became one of the best-selling novels of 1906.