Catherine Coulter is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the FBI Thrillers featuring husband and wife team Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock. She is also the author—with J. T. Ellison—of the Brit in the FBI series. She lives in Sausalito, California.
Neither Lincoln Center nor Wall Street comes across with credibility in this first hardcover novel by the author of 18 Regency and historical romances. Set against the glittering Manhattan world of corporate finance and performing arts is a shifting population of heroes and villains, white knights and charlatans. Barely acquitted of her elderly husband's ice-pick murder, pianist Elizabeth Carleton struggles to rule his financial empire, developing unusual alliances while learning firsthand about hostile takeovers. Although confronted by vicious in-laws rivaling the Borgias in their skill for blackmail and betrayal, Elizabeth thrives surrounded by attentive and attractive men. A trusted bodyguard guides her through the intricacies of acquisition politics, an acquaintance made during a European junket becomes her confidant and she is later squired by a mysterious and wealthy psychiatrist who perjured himself to assure her acquittal. Elizabeth's trials pose as a romantic mystery thriller but the book suffers from stilted dialogue and equally awkward descriptions of violent confrontations and sexual couplings. Non sequiturs concerning affirmative action and safe sex merely accessorize the dated formula, reminiscent of a TV saga. ( October)
Elizabeth Xavier Carleton is a beautiful, talented concert pianist who is married to a much older, extremely wealthy man. She comes home one night to find her husband lying on the floor of his study, a leather-handled ice pick in his chest. Of course, being the heroine of a romance novel, she tries to pull it out before it dawns on her that old Timothy is dead as a doornail. With her prints on the murder weapon, the circumstantial evidence is pretty bleak, so the tabloids condemn her as that gold-digging murderess, Elizabeth X. But help is at hand. A surprise witness at her trial provides her with an airtight alibi, and the jury acquits her. But Elizabeth has never seen this man before in her life. Can she trust him? Is he the murderer? Coulter's first foray into contemporary suspense is a corker of a story, with fast-paced plotting, engaging characters, and snappy dialog. Nicola Amos shows expertise in her character differentiation and her pacing. An excellent choice for public libraries; enthusiastically recommended.DBarbara Perkins, Irving P.L., TX Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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