Wambaugh returns to the novel after two spellbinding nonfiction police procedurals (Echoes in the Darkness, 1986; The Blooding, 1988), and again—as in The Secrets of Harry Bright, 1985—ties in with an alcoholic ex-cop protagonist. For ghoulish glee, vividness, and horror, this novel has far less wattage than any earlier Wambaugh fiction. Nearly a hundred pages go by before any genuine suspense begins to knot up, and by then the reader has only the dimmest interest in Winnie Farlowe, the 40-year-old ex-cop being set up to take the fall for a murder (or perhaps non-murder) he did not commit and which was an accident anyway—a statement not to be explained here. It's also hard for the reader to feel much for Winnie's pivotal love-interest, in this case a rich woman down to her last $50,000 and looking for a millionaire husband or a scam to get her back into the big bucks. On California's Orange County Gold Coast, Winnie is a waterfront drank on forced retirement from the Newport Beach Police Department. He achieves immense notoriety on a Christmas escapade when he diverts his public ferry and runs it into a yacht during a sea-festival. Suddenly he's being courted by Tess Binder, daughter of a suicide millionaire and now a relatively down-at-heels divorcÉe. How can Tess put up with this lowlife? Well, one wonders. But she gets him into her spell, then springs a naughty trap on him—that may not be a trap. Along the way, suggestions arise of A.A. to come. And Wambaugh sets his tale against the outlandish detail of rich women swimming in gold. Wambaugh's Gold Coast has none of the fabulous lived-in richness of Nelson DeMille's picture of Long Island superwealth in The Gold Coast (p. 204), and the whole setting and stow have a knocked-together quality that makes them fail to catch Fire. One career strikeout?—not a bad record.
Pub Date: May 14, 1990
ISBN: 0553290266
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1990
A Gone Girl–esque confection with villainy and melodrama galore.
A wealthy woman with a handsome husband is preyed on by a ruthless con artist.
One day at the gym, Amber Patterson drops the magazine she’s reading between her exercise bike and that of the woman who happens to be beside her, Daphne Parrish. As she bends to pick it up, Daphne notices that it’s the publication of a cystic fibrosis foundation. What a coincidence—Daphne’s sister died of cystic fibrosis, and, why, so did Amber’s! “Slowing her pace, Amber wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. It took a lot of acting skills to cry about a sister who never existed.” Step one complete. “All she needed from Daphne was everything.” Everything, in this case, consists of Daphne’s outlandishly wealthy and blisteringly hot husband, Jackson, and all the real estate that comes with him; Daphne can definitely keep her two whiny brats. Amber hates children. But once she finds out that Daphne’s failure to give Jackson a male heir is the main source of tension in the marriage, she sees exactly how to make this work. Amber’s constant, spiteful inner monologue as she plays up to Daphne is the best thing about this book. For example, as Daphne talks about the many miseries her sister Julie went through before her death, Amber is thinking, “At least Julie had grown up in a nice house with money and parents who cared about her. Okay, she was sick and then she died. So what? A lot of people were sick. A lot of people died.…How about Amber and what she’d gone through?” Meanwhile, poor, stupid Daphne is so caught up in the joy of finally having a friend, she seems to be handing Jackson to her on a platter. Constantine’s debut novel is the work of two sisters in collaboration, and these ladies definitely know the formula.
A Gone Girl–esque confection with villainy and melodrama galore.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-266757-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
The proliferation of older characters like Eve will be a pleasant and unexpected find for the many readers who understand...
Kubica’s psychological thriller centers on the abduction of a young teacher.
Mia Dennett comes from massive wealth, and that made her a juicy target. Chicago Police Detective Gabe Hoffman is assigned to lead the official search and finds himself increasingly attracted to Mia’s mother, a beautiful British woman in her early 60s. The story alternates between the past and present and is told through the voices of three of the participants: Mia’s mother, Eve; her abductor, Colin; and Gabe, the detective. Mia, who was freed after months of living in the Minnesota woods with her captor, has a type of amnesia that, her psychiatrist says, allows her to block out parts of what happened to her. Gabe is still trying to track down the truth about her captivity, while Eve is working to regain the daughter she believes is underneath Mia’s apparent apathy and confusion. Meanwhile, readers follow along with the abduction itself in Colin’s words and discover an odd but burgeoning bond developing between captor and captive in the harsh and unforgiving climate. Although Kubica has chosen to recount her tale in the present tense, which adds an odd stiffness to her otherwise very readable prose, she makes the characters engaging and moves the story along at a good clip. If the novel lacks credibility in any one area, it’s that the Chicago PD, one of the busiest law enforcement agencies in the world, would have the luxury of assigning one detective to a single case for months on end, even if the abductee was the daughter of an influential member of the judiciary.
The proliferation of older characters like Eve will be a pleasant and unexpected find for the many readers who understand that life over 55 can still be interesting.Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1655-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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