ALMOST PARADISE

An in-depth investigation into the grisly murder of leveraged-buyout financier Ted Ammon, from New York Post reporter Crowley.

No need to pump up the material to give this story of vulgarity and murder epic proportions, and the author doesn’t, maintaining a steady keel throughout. Which is not to say that Crowley (The Surgeon’s Wife, etc., not reviewed) isn’t relentless in uncovering the protagonists’ sleazy doings. The miscreants include Ted Ammon, an arbitrageur who ruined many a life as he enriched a few (including himself); his shallow and snobbish socialite wife Generosa, sarcastic, arrogant, rude, and cheap with people in a way she would never be with objects; and ne’er-do-well Danny Pelosi, Generosa’s married lover. Each of three was the kind of person who touched other’s lives in all the wrong ways, but in Crowley’s estimation Generosa was queen of this nasty hill. The merest perceived slight would send her into a screaming fit, making even close friends cringe. When she discovered that Ted was having an affair, she gave him his walking papers and commenced secret surveillance of his home. But before the divorce could be finalized, he was beaten to death with a poker while Taser shocks were administered. (The surveillance equipment was removed by the killers.) Generosa had told her husband on more than one occasion, “I’ll have you killed,” and Pelosi owned a Taser. He got a quickie divorce and they got married shortly after Ted’s death. Yet Pelosi—who publicly commented of Generosa, “She’s wacko, but she’ll do anything for me”—was a relatively decent father to his kids and also good with her kids, the real victims of this story. After Generosa died of cancer, he was arrested for Ted’s murder, unconvincingly if this version is correct. Crowley writes in measured, albeit frightening terms, making no call, letting the facts and his investigative reporting speak for themselves.

Truly appalling all around: a story seemingly without goodness, except in the telling. (8-page b&w photo insert, not seen)