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November 7, 2008
Mobbed-up on Long Island
The new Nelson DeMille book, “The Gate House” (Grand Central Publishing), hit bookstores last week and should be at the top of the New York Times best-seller list on Sunday — one of popular fiction’s master entertainers has delivered another big and juicy page-turner about a man caught between the Mob and his ex-wife on the Gold Coast of Long Island.
The 674-page book is a sequel to “The Gold Coast,” but you don’t need to have read that one to enjoy this funny and suspenseful tale of DeMille hero John Sutter who has returned to the north shore of Long Island a decade after a cataclysmic scandal — John’s wife, Susan Stanhope, shooting and killing her Mob lover, Frank Bellarosa.
After the divorce, John went on a three-year round the world sail and then resumed his career as a lawyer in London. Susan retreated to South Carolina where her super-wealthy parents have a second home in Hilton Head.
At the start of the sequel, John and Susan return to their old stomping ground for the funeral of a servant who had been with the Stanhope family for decades.
John hasn’t been back in town for long when he is approached by Anthony Bellarosa, Frank’s son, who has taken over the family business and wants John to be one of his lawyers and advisers (Anthony’s dad had John in a similar position before Susan shot him).
John still carries a torch for Susan — who didn’t have to serve any jail time for killing the mobster — and he fears that Anthony has a ten-years-in-the-making revenge planned for the woman who killed his father.
Although DeMille eventually generates great suspense — as Anthony’s plan goes into gear — most of “The Gate House” is a social comedy about wildly dysfunctional families rather than the traditional thriller that the author has delivered on more than one occasion.
One thing that separates DeMille from peers who also ride atop the best-seller lists is his versatility. Over the past decade he has delivered old-fashioned police procedurals as well as provocative topical thrillers such as the recent “Night Fall” and “Wild Fire.”
“The Gate House” is a more leisurely story, but DeMille keeps us going with his wonderful observations of the changing Long Island scene, the jittery post 9/11 atmosphere in Manhattan, and a spirit of sardonic fun that results in a laugh on almost every page. John Sutter is a wise guy — not in the Mob sense but in the way that he takes very few things seriously — and he is terrific character to lead us through the many twists and turns of this immensely satisfying novel.
Posted by Joe on November 7, 2008 1:16 PM
