Rating: 
Summary: Stick with Grisham/Turow
Review: Stephen Carter is a well-known African American legal scholar, and this first novel, a legal mystery, offers an intriguing glimpse of upper middle class black society. It's well-written and gets off to a promising start, but bogs down pretty quickly, as the author tries to unravel the tangle of his father's life, and at the same time deal with an unfaithful and pretty nasty wife, his failures as a professor, impenetrable faculty politics, a crazy family, being frequently followed, and his anger at his own race. Carter's rather astute observations of this segment of American society are overwhelmed by a complex plot and multiple characters, and I was soon skimming through it just to get to the end, which I thought was fairly improbable. I kept thinking some of the plot lines were heading somewhere--that Talcott's self-obsessed, unfaithful wife, would end up being on his side, for example, or hand him the clue, or turn out to have been faithful after all--but no--she's as unlikeable at the end as she is at the beginning. And the mysterious Maxine--a new love interest perhaps? But she drops out as quickly as she dropped into the plot. If you're stuck in the airport you might pick it up, but if there's a Grisham or Turow you haven't read yet, go for that instead.
Rating: 
Summary: How does this compare to Grisham????
Review: Usually don'tlike mainstream novels but this one was an exception.
Does Grisham write this well?
If so which books?Will Sperry
Rating: 
Summary: Much more than a suspense book...
Review: This book started out a bit slow, but the author's keen observations about relationships, race, and human nature, along with the intriguing plot, kept me turning those pages, and boy was it worth it! I usually find whodunnit-type books boring, but Carter has such an interesting way of looking at things that I found myself reading as much for the thought-provoking situations and thoughts of his characters as for the suspenseful ending.
Rating:
Summary: The best I've read in ages
Review: It's so refreshing to read a book about African-American characters who are complex and literate. This is a slow starter, but those who stick with it will be rewarded with a page-turning plot, and characters that seem ever so real. The murder mystery is not the point here, but the family dynamics will really draw you in. If you like a good read, BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Glad I made it through
Review: This is not a novel for anyone looking for a quick read. The book is well over 600 pages, contains 60+ chapters. I listened to the book on CD, all 20 CDs. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the novel. Like just about everyone here, I found the book to be a little long, and for those who enjoyed it the "arrangements" kept me listening to the bitter end. I would recommend this novel to others. My only added suggestion is that you might need a dictionary to understand some of the words (smile).
Rating:
Summary: the endless read
Review: So Mr. Carter has a prestious vocabulary.........I actually had to renew this book at the library to get through it. In my opinion all of the characters in this drawn out "who cares?" saga deserve each other. Talk about getting a life! I was determined to finish this opus as I hate to be defeated by any author but it was touch and go all along. Other books were beckoning and perhaps I should have heeded the call. Never again unless Mr. Carter is able to write something under 400 pages.
Rating:
Summary: first rate thriller- (some may enjoy the abridged CD better)
Review: Yale law professor Steven L. Carter's first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a hard book for people to classify. It is both a first-rate literary novel and a page turning thriller. Although the book can definitely be classified as "African American Literature," it is likely to please lovers of traditional legal fiction. One thing that is book is not is a typical popular thriller. Throughout the book, Carter takes pains to distance himself from the better selling thriller authors such Grisham, Patterson, and Turow. To his uninitiated readers, Carter introduces what he refers to as "The Darker Nation." This is the segregated upper class of blacks that, before integration, vacationed in the black areas of the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard and played on Black Country clubs. One of the most politically influential and prominent families in "the Darker nation" is the Garland family. The story begins with the death of the family's iconic patriarch, Oliver Garland, a corrupt and disgraced federal judge who once was nominated for the Supreme Court. The scope of this novel is amazing. It spends an equal amount of time exploring the upper crust of 'the Darker Nation,' the halls of an Ivy League law school, and the power offices of in Wahington DC. Carter uses an interesting Chess problem 'The Excelsior" as a thematic metaphor for Talcott solving the mystery of 'the arrangements.' Although the scope of the novel is impressive, the heart of any mystery is the logic and the details. This is where Carter deserves the gold medal. There are no loose ends in this book. Every major character has a role to play in the conspiracy or in helping (or hurting) Talcott in his task of solving it. The mark of a truly great mystery is that the careful reader can determine the answer before the conclusion of the book, based on the clues the author leaves in the text. I must admit, that I read this book twice. I listened to an abridged version on CD in the car and I enjoyed it so much I read it after that. The only thing taking away from this book is that Carter is too wordy and longwinded. I assume this is either a symptom of his law professor background or an unnecessary attempt to distinguish himself from more popular authors of legal fiction. The audio abridgment of The Emperor of Ocean Park a much 'tighter' novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Officious Tedium
Review: Yes-It is way too long, but, moreover, Mr. Carter seems much more intent on developing in the reader appreciation for Carter's knowledge of law(ho hum)and his knowledge of chess(HO HUM)than in really developing characters that are either likeable or believable.The protagonist is a pontificating jerk. His wife has to be an airhead to fall for a pretty dumb basketball player-and she's a potential U.S.Circuit Court nominee-I don't think so! The rest of the characters are the biggest conglomeration of misfits, wierdos, neurotics and crooks I ever read about, especially "the family". I also am a lawyer, a chess player and have taught at prestigious law schools, and, frankly, law faculty and lawyers generally just ain't this bad. First time out-hope it's the last.
Rating:
Summary: so what was i supposed to get in this/
Review: i found this novel tedious at best.....and i have to admit i found carter's references to the paler nation and the darker nation a bit affrontive.....maybe i'm not attuned to the latest appelations of heritage being of the paler nation.....i plodded through this book primarily on Carter's reputation within the ranks of legal intelligencia, hoping for something more than i found....and found his budding novelist skills lacking....it didn't grab me, i did want to put it down often, and couldn't wait for it to end.....and its end i found disappointing, but i could not have ended it any differently.....his characterization was wonderful in his wife and son, both of whom he loved beyond himself......that was about the only redeeming element of this book....
Rating:
Summary: KISS method be damned!
Review: Not being a big fan of the murder-mystery/legal thriller genre(s), i was a bit skeptical that i would enjoy this book, but its widespread popularity drew me to it nonetheless. Overall, i was not disappointed by the book, which was a very intellectual, well-developed story that gave more than cursory treatment to a number of highly relevant social and interpersonal issues while at the same time unfolding a fairly complicated murder mystery. As a matter of fact, carter's debut novel was pretty near perfect. And while none of the elements that contributed to the story were particularly flawed, the one major flaw of this book was its sheer length. ...The book could have easily made the same impression, covered the same topics, and been just as impressive without adding another 5 pounds for me to lug around. But despite the book's length, carter's skill cannot be doubted for an instant; which was one of the primary reasons that kept me turning the pages of 'emperor' (and those of my trusty pocket-sized dictionary, as i tried to keep track of all the words i didn't know). but the best example of carter's intelligence, literary prowess, and perhaps even a telling glimpse of his ego comes in the book's afterword where he explains a lot of the more intricate details of the book that many readers may not have given a second thought to. but alas, to understand and truly appreciate what carter writes in the afterword, you have to have finished the very lengthy novel that preceded it. you can borrow my dictionary if you want.
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