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I'm sure 'reading' this book would be a joy, but listening to it on audio was a double pleasure because the reader was fantastic. This book is one of the most interesting I've ever listened to. Louis, MO You simply can't go wrong with this book.Sandy D., St. The plot of the story holds your attention from beginning to end, and the main character, John Sutter is so witty you just fall in love with him. All of the characters are well-defined with individual personalities making for a great read.
Ah, but the story is not finished, as DeMille continues the tale with The Gate House, the finish to the mini-saga and even more exciting than The Gold Coast. A very good story that pulls one along to the finish. The Gold Coast is full of history and insight into the wealth and quirkyness of families of old Long Island and how the new McMillionaires (some to be feared)invade their lives and traditions. The characters are fun, naughty and evil.
Because I never really could relate to the characters and found myself disliking them so much I didn't care if anyone lived or died or went to prison for life. At one point I actually thought that maybe I accidentally skipped a chapter relating to an affair between two of the main characters. The ending was pretty sudden and not very exciting as I had hoped. I will admit, this book was entertaining but did not become so until nearly 1/2 - 2/3rds of the way through. Out of over 600 pages, there were probably 200 that had me wanting more, the rest was fill. In fact, the only character I really liked was Frank the mobster, but maybe that was the point. I found it hard to relate to most of characters because of their extraordinary lifestyles and terrible personalities. The story seemed to go from very slow and dull to full speed and then jumped around chaotically.
There were some glitches in areas of ethics and legalities, but they did not spoil the story. This was well-written, interesting, with quirky characters, and often cleverly told. Ultimately, however, the story failed to deliver a message or reasonable conclusion, but the writer appeared to drive the ending rather than allowing his characters to do so. This was an interesting and sometimes exciting clash between two cultures, blue blood WASPs and the Mafiaso of Italian ancestry. Told from the perspective of a cynical perspective of a wise-cracking blue blood WASP, it presents a sometimes plausible, sometimes ridiculous idea of what it would be like if the two cultures involved themselves in high drama, society, crime and sex.
I was expecting a standard beach page turner, but was extremely pleased to find that it was much, much more: a very nuanced psychological drama, and a fascinating look at American nobility and the Gold Coast of Long Island.The introduction says the book is an heir to The Great Gatsby, and it is. I'm new to Nelson Demille.
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