Available:*
Material Type | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| New books | FICTION KELLERMAN,JESSE | New Book Shelves | Searching... |
Summary
Summary
Arthur Pfefferkorn is a has-been, or perhaps a never-was: a middle-aged college professor with long-dead literary aspirations. When his oldest friend, bestselling thriller writer William de Vallèe, is lost at sea, Pfefferkorn is torn between envy and grief, for de Vallèe not only outshone Pfefferkorn professionally, but married the woman Pfefferkorn loved. Pfefferkorn's decision to reconnect with de Vallèe's widow sets in motion a surreal chain of events, plunging him into a shadowy realm of double crosses and intrigue, a world where no one can be trusted--and nothing can be taken seriously.
Reviews: 3
Booklist Review
Creative-writing instructor Arthur Pfefferkorn published his only novel decades ago, but no one noticed. Arthur is morose, wallowing in his failure as a writer. He thinks often about his lifelong friend, Bill, who not only gained wealth and fame as the author of a slew of best-selling thrillers, he also married Carlotta, the woman Pfefferkorn loved. Envy has kept him from seeing Bill and Carlotta, but when Bill is lost at sea, Arthur decides to attend the memorial service. That decision changes Arthur's life forever and tosses him into a bizarre world of duplicity and danger. Kellerman (The Executor, 2010) plays this one largely for laughs, casting Pfefferkorn into the murky animosities that animate two tiny Eastern European countries, East and West Zlabia; said animosities are rooted, delightfully, in a 400-year-old literary dispute. But Kellerman is simply too interesting a writer to leave it at that. He also ruminates on the practice of writing, the experience of sudden literary success, the nature of friendship, and the contrasts between the lives of writers and spies. Potboiler is very funny and insightful.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist
Publisher's Weekly Review
Kellerman's insightful satire on publishing, bestsellers, and series continuing long after an author's demise opens promisingly. Years earlier, Arthur Pfefferkorn's one coming-of-age novel received "mild acclaim but sold poorly." Arthur now ekes out a living as an adjunct professor "at a small college on the Eastern Seaboard." He seethes over the success and wealth of his oldest friend, bestselling thriller writer William de Vallee, who married Arthur's first love, Carlotta. After William is lost at sea, Arthur finds his friend's last manuscript, plagiarizes the story, and becomes a bestselling author. But the price of Arthur's new success unfurls into events that could be lifted from his thriller-a series of betrayals and double crosses with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kellerman (The Executor) makes witty use of thriller cliches, especially at the rousing finale, but the flaccid middle section suggests that this one-note joke might have worked better at novella length. Agent: Liza Dawson, Liza Dawson Associates. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Arthur Pfefforkorn is a middle-aged sad sack of a college professor and washed-up literary novelist, having published one novel decades ago. In contrast, his best friend, the international best-selling thriller writer William de Vallee, has sold millions of copies and garnered enthusiastic reviews. Pfefferkorn holds his friend in secret disdain because the writing, well, isn't very good. But when de Vallee (a nom de plume, of course) is lost at sea and Pfefferkorn reunites with the widow and his former flame at the funeral, his life suddenly gets a little complicated. Intrigue and political machinations ensue. Really. VERDICT This satire-heavy novel works well in the first half. There are truly funny observations about publishing, what merits good writing, and the excesses of the thriller genre. However, the second half descends into the political intrigue of a made-up country, Zlabia, and the joke feels more than a little old by the end. Some thriller readers will pick this up on the strength of Kellerman's (The Executor; The Genius; Trouble; Sunstroke) name and will be confounded, but a few will actually love this odd hybrid of a book. [See Prepub Alert, 12/5/11.]-Andrea Y. Griffith, Olympia, WA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Google Preview
