Rating: 
Summary: I just couldn't read another page
Review: Although there does seem to be some interesting plots being developed, they just seemed to be taking way too much time in being exposed to the reader. Such things as a character being about to say what happened to the judge's nomination being interrupted by a ringing telephone, or followed by a double dash can be infuriating after over 200 pages. Many a paragraph I skipped, seing absolutely no added value to it other than to "prove" to the reader that he can write. Personally, had the author been able to sustain my interest in his book, then I would have thought him a good writer. This book is long, and does present potential, but the reader must be extremely patient, and not have a better book sitting on a shelf just waiting to be read...
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven entertainment
Review: In The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen Carter, author of several non-fiction works, has had tried his hand at fiction with mixed success. While Carter shows potential for being a good writer - and while a lot of the book is entertaining - there are enough flaws to merit only a three star review, though it would at least be a high three stars. The principal flaw seems to be that Carter is not quite sure what type of book he wants to write. On the one hand, he seems to be writing a version of the Great American Novel, an epic tale of the trials of one family. On the other hand, he has written a complex mystery filled with conspiracy and riddles. Although I enjoy both genres, Carter is unable to make them mesh well. The mystery detracts from the realism, and the serious, literary qualities dampen the suspense. Carter also tends towards wordiness; maybe his legal background has forced him to be overly detailed. This affects the pacing. Not much happens for the first hundred pages and the last hundred are left to explaining most things (but not everything). The middle four hundred pages, however, are quite good. Finally, the choice of the first person viewpoint seems to hurt the story. It takes a long time for Talcott Garland to seem more like a person than an observer; he is remote, which may work well in a private eye novel, where the narrator is truly an outsider, but here Garland is the heart of the story. There is not really much that is bad about the novel in the sense that the plot is entertaining, the characters are well-defined (given Carter's wordiness, perhaps too well-defined) and there is some good social commentary. If you are a fan of mysteries (which is really what this book, in the end), you'll find this okay but not great; while you won't put Carter with the great writers, you also won't put him with the bad ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing first novel
Review: This complex novel is told through the eyes of Talcott (Misha)Garland, an African-American law professor at a prestigious east-coast university. The story begins when Misha's father, Oliver, dies. Oliver was a judge who had a failed attempt at the Supreme Court because of his association with an underworld figure who was a close friend. Misha's sister is convinced that their father's death was all part of a conspiracy and she is determined to uncover the plot. Misha receives a request to reveal his father's "arrangements" from his father's shady friend
but Misha doesn't know what he's talking about. In the ensuing chapters, Misha is stalked, attacked, and frightened in a variety of unpleasant ways. He is confused as to who are the good guys and who are the bad guys and why they all seem to be after him. Meanwhile he has to tread a thin line with university politics, his wife's possible appointment to a judgship, his not-so-secure marriage, and several fractured relationships within his family. Author Carter balances these
plot lines with the finesse of a juggler and manages to keep the reader's attention through a long and complex book. Carter could probably have trimmed off about 200 pages and still had a good story, but his main character's ruminations are erudite and illustrate the thought processes of a highly-educated, intelligent African-American man in today's society.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Novel
Review: Professor Carter has a winner with this book. This story is both scholarly and entertaining, and the story hooked me from the first few pages. Professor Carter does a fantastic job with character development, and Talcott is a most unforgettable character. I hope that someone in Hollywood has the good sense to make this story into a film. With so much trash and gore abounding in the literary world, "The Emperor of Ocean Park" is a refreshing, spine-tingling joy to read. I was left with wanting more after reading the last page. I personally hope that Mr. Carter will create another work of fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Clever debut, but...
Review: .. it doesn't make it all the way to the "finish" line. I have read Carter's non-fiction work, and I have recommended it highly to my friends. I found his non-fiction work to be very interesting, and I love his easygoing writing style. When I heard that he had written a fiction novel ("The Emperor of Ocean Park") I eagerly went out and bought a copy. The lead character is Talcott Garland. A professor with an Ivy League Law school, married to Kimmer (herself a very good Lawyer) and together they have one son. In short, when Talcott's father (Judge Oliver Garland) passes away, under rather questionable circumstances, the family (especially Talcott's sister Mariah) starts to ask question. Talcott discovers a secret that he believes noone else has found out about. And the way this is laid out, he believes (together with others) that he is the only one whom can solve this mystery. When people, connected to Judge Garland, starts dying "like flies" around Talcott, the pressure is on him to both solve the mystery and protect his family. This is a deeply intriguing story, and "The Emperor of Ocean Park" kept me completely hooked from the first page. Very interesting and well-developed characters from a level in society that aren't too often represented in best-seller novels (affluent African-Americans with great education and successful at work). I truly didn't want this book to end. It was such an exciting book to read. I read it in long sittings at the time, completely mesmerized. Well, till it was maybe 30 pages or so left. Then I started to fear that the ending wasn't going to be as good as the rest of the book had been. And, I didn't like the ending at all. Enough said about that. The book kept me for 580+ pages or so, and it takes a good writing talent to do that! I recommend it, but be aware of the not "clever" ending.
Rating:
Summary: Intrigue & Suspense
Review: A wonderful change from the one-dimensional plots of the quick-hit thrillers and mystery novels of the day. Kept me guessing
right up until the end (when we knew what he'd do with the info)!
Rating: 
Summary: I would like to have Talcott Garland for a teacher & friend!
Review: This is an excellent book! I found the characters fascinating - they constantly developed, which is a technique I always admire. I admit that there were several "leaps" on the mystery/suspense level but I either never saw the twists coming or I was down the wrong road anyway! Talcott and his family and friends opened my eyes to opinions and attitudes I would never know of unless I selected this book. Word of warning - you must try and keep and open mind to new thoughts as Stephen Carter will challenge stereotypes and shake up your comfortable way of perceiving African-American life. Talcott became flesh and blood for me. I would like to have Talcott as a friend and teacher because he's a survivor, a hero, a wise and courageous man. Mr. Carter, I hope I get to meet Talcott again in future books.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustration
Review: I was so ready to read this book that got such rave reviews. DISAPPOINTING andFRUSTRATING best describes my feelings while reading this book. The author did not fully develop the characters and many could have been eliminated all together. The storyline was fragmented and disjointed. The ending was a mild surprise. No shattering revelation. There were many words but very little punch.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, entertaining
Review: I haven't read any of Stephen Carter's non-fiction work, but having just finished Carter's debut novel I feel as though I have. His opinions on everything from affirmative action to religion are tightly woven into the story, elegantly articulated in the thoughts, actions, and words of the characters that populate the Emperor of Ocean Park. Just as telling, the opposing viewpoint is voiced by characters who at best are portrayed as out of touch ivory tower academics (in one scene such a character waxes poetic at a dinner party about a theory on the unconstitutionality of marriage and is so hypnotized by the sound of his own voice that he is blind to the blank stares with which his argument is greeted.) And that's nothing; wait till you get to the conclusion. The story follows Talcott Garland, a law professor at an elite university that bears an uncanny resemblance to Yale, and whose father is a disgraced former Supreme Court justice who bears an uncanny resemblance to Clarence Thomas. Mysterious things start happening once the old man dies, and Garland is hot on the trail, while simultaneously trying to salvage his marriage and prevent his academic career from derailing. Ocean Park is a thoughtful and entertaining page-turner. Carter sketches the characters and scenes with confident authority, and it's clear that he's writing about a world with which he is intimately familiar. There's much more than a mystery here, and though he wraps the story in a fast-moving fictional plotline Carter often turns his attention to the weighty societal issues of our time; race, politics, money, family, love and community. At one point in the book Garland rails against being described as "clever" by another academic, this term being something less than "intelligent" and inferring some sort of animal cunning rather than true mental capacity. This very well may be a sentiment that Carter has himself felt in his academic career, and it is clear why this would raise his ire; Ocean Park is a book which is dripping with intelligence. The irony here is that a bit more cleverness might have been just what the novel needed. Carter has the intellectual firepower to construct a complex and coherent imaginary world, but what is lacking is the literary instinct that would have allowed him to edit this 670 page tome into a tighter, more elegant novel.
Rating:
Summary: nice read intellectually, perhaps too complex as a thriller
Review: I liked the book -- especially its subplots on chess and middle class African American society. As a thriller, I found it bordering on convuluted, but as a novel I thought it worked pretty well.
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