DESCENT FROM XANADU

by Harold Robbins ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 1984

I'm going for the big one. Immortality. I want to be the. first man to live forever."" So declares multi-billionaire Judd Crane, who's 42 in 1976--when he seeks the help of Yugoslavia's Dr. Zabiski, tops in geriatrics. But, since Judd is always on the conglomerate move, he can't stay put for the Dr. Z. super-treatment; so Dr. Z.'s assistant, gorgeous Dr. Sofia Ivancich (a KGB agent), is hired to travel with Judd and administer the assorted tests and life-extension treatments In no time Judd, who has a sort of harem, is whispering sweet nothings in Sofia's ear. (""You stupid cunt! . . . Suck it hard if you want to fuck it."") He's also introducing her to the joys of cocaine--which is snorted throughout at five-or-ten-page intervals. And the Zabiski program does keep Judd fairly young--though it doesn't come through, immortalitywise. . . and there's that nasty side-effect called ""acute priapism."" (To alleviate this, Judd has genital microsurgery: ""Isn't it ironic that the first part of my body to achieve immortality will be my prick?"") So Judd, when not engaging in blurry, dull mega-deals, keeps searching for the secret--financing a nuclear-medicine research center in the Andes (""Xanadu""). Sofia, after killing her KGB boss/lover, rejoins Judd circa 1984. (She's now, for murky reasons, on ""four hit lists. . .Russia, Yugoslavia, China and the Mafia hired by the Cubans."") Together they seek out immortality-advice from a well-guarded Maharishi--who turns out to be the younger brother of the late Dr. Zabiski. And, when the folks at Xanadu do come up with the immortality formula, the evil Maharishi kidnaps the Judd/Sofia baby (a secret, accidental by-product of human-fetus experiments)--all of which seems to convince Judd to give up his loathsome ways, settle down, and live for today. Robbins delivers this meager, goofy plot in talky, nearly-incoherent dribbles here; the medical technology surfaces in repetitious, impenetrable pellets; even the attention span involved in a sex sequence now seems beyond the author's powers. (There's just a tidbit of lesbian sadism, plus a flashback to Judd masturbating for his newly widowed stepmother.) In fact, considering the glamorous picture of snorting here, this woozy, paceless novel might seem to be less about immortality than the brainrotting powers of cocaine--but that won't stop some readers from turning out yet again for a familiar, once-dynamic byline.

Pub Date: April 25, 1984

ISBN: 1452045631

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION