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.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful, relevant & suspenseful - an A+ thriller!
Review: Carter's foray into fiction is a smashing success mostly because he writes a story that can be BELIEVED even while being enjoyed. One might wonder how an intellectual like Carter, with plently of NON-fiction under his belt, would make the jump to fiction. The answer is: flawlessly. He writes with depth and character analysis that creates a tantalizing thriller on several levels: a whodunnit (and did anyone DO it) murder mystery, a chess and map puzzle for the ages, mysterious figures surrounding a failed judicial nomination from the 80s affecting a potential judicial nomination during the story, and the paranoia and anxiety of suspicions of infidelity and a failing marriage. The narrator speaks with such passion in his bitter outlook on society (with plenty of biting yet satisfying commentary on topics like race relations, family relations, marital relations, politics, judges,and the legal/ academic profession) that this book could have easily been a sequence of intereting essays on each - and the mystery is enhanced accordingly by these topics' inclusion in the tale. The narrator drags you down with him as he drifts deeper and deeper into a mystery that threatens his stability and his sanity. There is enough "Hollywood" action - the mandatory car chases, foot races, and shootouts in the rain, etc - to keep the story exciting, yet I found the REAL action to be the mental struggles of the narrator. And I give EMPEROR high marks for putting together a "solution" to the various mysteries that give you plenty of "a-HA!" while not seeming contrived or too "perfect" - at the end of the story, the reader still has plenty left unresolved, but in a realistic way - in which Carter suggests that for a lot of life's struggles, there ARE no solutions or answers. An EXCELLENT read. I will certainly buy Carter's next fiction novel as soon as it comes out.
Rating:
Summary: good, but not great
Review: It's a good read, but not a great one. The characters interested me, the idea of using the game of chess as a framework for the mystery and its clues was unique, and the book drew me in. However, at times the pace was plodding, and some of the characters remained mysterious throughout...I wanted to know more about them. It's a long book, and was mostly able to retain my interest, but I thought it could have been pared down and sharpened up a bit.
Rating:
Summary: Dense But Worth It
Review: Stephen L. Carter's debut novel caught my eye on the new books shelf of the public library. I am a lawyer, and I have a taste for police, detective and criminal trial procedurals. I liked this book very much, although it takes a while to get going. The other reviews give a good synopsis of the plot. What hooked me was the detail of the prose, although I know that turned several reviewers off. I was reminded of Scott Turow's first novel, Presumed Innocent. The first person narrative is similar, as is Carter's quiet, almost weary tone. The details of the story are revealed as the narrator experiences them, and Carter is patient enough to allow the pace to build slowly. Very slowly. Carter takes the time to flesh out the characters and the settings in some detail. I was interested in his portrayal of an upper class African American family, as well as the glimpses into an exclusive law school, and the political machinations within the so called ivory tower. Those looking for a quick read will be disappointed. The "thriller" parts are merely part of the story, and when I finished the book I knew not only the answer to the mystery, but also much about Tal Garland, his wife, his son, his brother and sister, and his friends and acquaintances. His character sees a great deal, and describes what he sees in (to me) fascinating detail. This is a rewarding novel for those willing to invest the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Too weak for a mystery novel
Review: This 654 page book could accomplish the same results in 300 pages and be more interesting. There is an excess of meaningless text that does nothing but interupt the basic plot, which is decent. While reading this book, I was thankful that I do not have to read his legal briefs.
Rating:
Summary: The Black Upperclass
Review: Yeah, this is a mystery, but Carter treats the lines of the genre like a kindergartener hyped up on Skittles. The mystery provides the backdrop for an interesting look into a rich and reputable black family. The protagonist is a law professor who feels he is not quite successful, which gives you a sense of this family's status. It's interesting to see how Blackness effects these people. In this case, it's not a proxy for class, it's not bald oppression, but it looms large nonetheless. It's always there, like a goiter or a really obstrusive speech impediment. The protagonist takes the opportunity to comment on a wide variety of things political/social. It's not always clear how closely these comments hew to Carter's own views, but they are insightful, and refreshingly free of the dogma that afflicts discussions even obliquely race related. The protagonist's father is essentially Clarence Thomas. He was a blandly right leaning judge, who was pulled and pushed into the hard right, through a messy confirmation hearing and the subsequent exile bestowed by the black establishment. After his death, a motley crew comes around asking after "the arrangements". Carter's proxy takes it upon himself to find whatever it is these characters are looking for, and digs up a few juicy skeletons. The mystery surrounds these skeletons, and introduces us to a high-profile mobster, a supreme court judge, a high-powered managing partner and a gaggle of mercenaries. It is interesting and complex, but not especially suspenseful. All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, sometimes fascinating read that I never tired of. I would recommend it to any curious, fair-minded person.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fiction Debut
Review: For a first fiction work this book is really pretty amazing. Certainly it has its faults: like others mentioned its a bit long winded and redundant in places. But it does get quite suspenseful especially near the end, and its plot twists are clever. The most pleasant surprise however is the characters, which are really well developed and interesting to follow. If you like an intriguing suspense novel, give this one a look. In the very least keep an eye out for Stephen L. Carter, if there's any more to come then it'll definitely be worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: The emperor should abdicate
Review: I found it a very difficult book to read. It took me a month but I wouldn't give up. Very disappointed in the solution of the mystery. By the time I got to it, I forgot who the bad guy was. Like reading a Russian novel.
Rating:
Summary: Weak Tease
Review: I do not usually enjoy mystery novels, but I "seemed" to enjoy this one. It held my interest, but I felt it left many loose ends. The story gave many leads that went nowhere. The characters were not well developed and the ending was extremely weak. I thought it was a waste of my time because it had promise, but no direction.
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