The smirky, undramatic rise of a male prostitute—in a long, frankly plotless novel (171 teensy chapters) that offers Sanders' cheery vulgarity without any of his talent for mystery/suspense. Like the Dustin Hoffman character in Tootsie, narrator Peter Scuro is a failure of a N.Y. actor pushing 40, bitter and frustrated. . . when fi woman in a bar offers him $50 for sex. Peter agrees; the woman turns out to be Martha Twombly, a boutique manager and ex-whore just starting out as a madam for men; and soon Peter is pimping as well as whoring, recruiting his friends for the ever-expanding operation—which eventually includes a call-boy service, an escort service, and three bordellos (known to the public as "Peter's Academy of Dramatic Arts"). There are vignettes with a variety of clients: a voyeur from the West Coast; 84-year-old Becky, "a rowdy, driving lover" in great condition ("When we finally blasted off, I was sobbing, hooting, sneezing, wheezing like a geezer"); an unnamed Washington VIP; assorted threesomes and mild kinks. There are periodic problems to be dealt with: a cop on the take who keeps asking for more money; the angry father of a 15-year-old client (Peter blackmails him into dropping charges, thanks to photos of the teenager in sordid activities); an ex-employee who sets up a rival "stud" ring (Peter's corrupt cop arranges for the competitor to be raided); the constant demand for fresh talent. And, throughout, while sleeping with partner Martha as well as the clients, Peter supposedly pines for true love Jenny—who leaves him when she learns of his new career. Unfortunately, however, Sanders never develops any of the droplets of plot here: an uneasy connection with the Mob (when Peter and Martha need funds to set up a townhouse private-club) supplies only a smattering of tension; the murder of Martha—who is also the secret mistress of a gubernatorial hopeful—comes in the last few pages, far too late to generate suspense. And the character of Peter, which might have provided some much-needed appeal, is a washout, despite his repetitious musings on prostitution as a form of theater. Crass stuff, then, neither funny nor involving, and more like a pornfilm scenario (without the hard-core porn) than a novel—but sure to attract an audience with the Sanders byline, the intriguing opening pages, and the heavily sexual premise.
Pub Date: Aug. 13, 1983
ISBN: 0425124622
Page Count: 394
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1983
A suspenseful story that examines how families haunt each other in life and death; possibly too creepy for late-night...
A college professor returns to his hometown and confronts figurative and literal demons from his childhood in this modern-day ghost story.
The novel opens as Will Conner attends a faculty-student mixer in Manhattan and talks with his teaching assistant, Beth, about the return of some disturbing dreams he’s been having. The dreams contain flashbacks to a confusing night from his youth when his mother hosted a “spirit circle” in their home. Beth tries, unsuccessfully, to help Will understand the dreams. As Will walks home after the event, he receives a visit from an unearthly being, a demon or spirit, perhaps a hallucination, he’s not sure. He hurries the rest of the way to his apartment, where he is greeted by a ringing telephone and the news that his mother is in the hospital, unconscious. Will returns to his small New England hometown to care for his mother, who suffered a head injury. During his visit, he reconnects with a long list of characters from his childhood and tries to determine what happened on that fateful night from his youth that continues to haunt his dreams. Will begins to detect secrets about the people he grew up with and how those secrets may have impacted his own life. Yet, every time he moves closer to discovering the central mystery, another obstacle materializes to thwart his efforts and make him question his path. Written in a fast-paced, colloquial prose, the text will pull readers in right from the start. Drawing on New England’s historical connection to witchcraft and mob hysteria, the author brings to life contemporary covens and small-town reactions to the unexplainable. Despite the novel’s heavy emphasis on flashbacks and retelling of family folklore, which can feel overly convoluted, the author creates nuanced and realistic interpersonal relationships that lend much-needed grounding to this darkly supernatural story. Equal parts engaging and creepy, this twisty tale deftly examines how secrets and regret can continue to reverberate through generations.
A suspenseful story that examines how families haunt each other in life and death; possibly too creepy for late-night reading.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-335-21755-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Everything is not quite as it seems in this quick, satisfying read.
A woman is on the run with cash, a burner phone, and plans that have taken most of a year to build. But can she escape?
Beth Murphy, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has planned every detail of her departure meticulously; from her new name to her new appearance and car, she is leaving nothing to chance. But the person she is fleeing continues to be an overwhelming presence in her mind, and she expects to see him hiding in every shadow. He has trained her well through years of abuse, and she knows that he will find her—the only question is when. Her jumpiness during the days and terror-soaked nights are hardly going unnoticed, and it becomes obvious to her new co-workers and rooming-house neighbors that she is not who she says she is. From her new life as a cleaner in Atlanta, Beth obsessively tracks the media coverage of a missing woman from Pine Bluff, Sabine Hardison, and the police’s search for her. Sabine is a successful realtor who disappeared one afternoon while her husband was away on business, but as the police dig deeper, it becomes clear that this was not a happy marriage. Suspense author Belle (Three Days Missing, 2018, etc.) switches among three points of view as the story unfolds, giving insights into Beth and her efforts to re-create herself; Sabine’s husband, Jeffrey, who is picking up the pieces left behind by his wife's disappearance while coming to terms with the aggressive publicity around his marriage’s shortcomings; and the detective, Marcus, who has been assigned to find out where Sabine has gone. Is Beth actually Sabine? Is she not? Are those continuity errors the whisper of red herrings or just the different ways multiple characters perceive the same events? An unexpected ending hinges on information missing from the story.
Everything is not quite as it seems in this quick, satisfying read.Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7783-0859-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Park Row Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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