Have you ever been taken into account for something that you have not done or have no idea of?
In Doris Anne Beaulieu’s All for a Buck, the story takes a sharp turn. What begins as a simple hunting season for Kevin quickly spirals into a community crisis that shakes both the mill where he works and the town that depends on it. This brings suspense, uncertainty, and a look at how trauma from the past can shape the way people are judged in the present.
Kevin is finally finding some stability in life. His house is paid off, and with the support of his wife, Belinda. He begins saving for her children’s future. Hunting gives him peace, a chance to reflect, and a connection to his childhood memories of going into the woods with his father. It is a routine that provides him comfort. Yet, during this season, peace gives way to fear when Kevin’s work life collides with something much darker.
At the mill, where Kevin works in the wood yard, life is as routine as cutting logs into sections and sending them into the chipper. But one day, his return from lunch changes everything. Red covers the wood chips, and pieces of flesh are scattered across the area. In a flash, the horrors of war come rushing back to Kevin, sending him into a panic. The alarm sounds, the mill shuts down, and what was once a steady place of employment becomes the center of a murder investigation.
The stakes are high. The mill runs around the clock, and shutting it down means millions of dollars lost each day. For over a thousand workers, it also means being sent home with pink slips and facing the harsh reality of unemployment. Families are suddenly forced to cut back, rely on half-wages from unemployment checks, or search for work elsewhere. But no one is hiring, and the town is left in limbo.
For Kevin, things are even worse. His history as a Vietnam veteran makes him a target. Investigators question him again and again, and his PTSD only fuels their suspicion. Though there is no evidence linking him directly to the crime, the stigma of being a veteran places him under a cloud of doubt. The story highlights the unfair ways veterans were often treated, not just by strangers, but even by their own communities.
As the investigation unfolds, every part of the mill’s process is scrutinized. Who could have slipped a body past guards, through a log delivery system, and into the chipper? Was it an inside job, or had someone on the outside found a way in? Each lead feels uncertain, and the longer the investigation drags on, the greater the divide in the community grows. Protests break out. Some demand the mill reopen so families can survive, while others call for patience and justice for the life that was lost. Both sides feel unheard, and tension rises.
While fiction, this prominent part of the story shows how fragile stability can be for working families and how quickly suspicion can turn against someone with a past marked by trauma. For examnple, Kevin becomes a symbol of how veterans are often misunderstood and judged for their service rather than supported for it.
Doris Anne Beaulieu takes the story deeper into mystery while staying rooted in the larger struggle of Vietnam veterans trying to find their way back into society. It is a turning point that keeps you, along with the characters themselves, questioning: Who was it, and how could something so terrible have happened inside the mill? Will Kevin be able to clear his name? Only reading the book will lead you to a conclusion.
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