Description:
Penzler Pick, July 2001: Tom Coffey has a genius for creating antiheroes. His first book, The Serpent Club, featured an all-too-human reporter named Ted Lowe. In this his second book, he has created a public relations man, Garrett Doherty, who exhibits all the character and decency of, well, the people next door. Based in Miami, Garrett is an honest enough man, given his job, and is married to a good woman. His parent company in New York is proud of the job he is doing. But at a company party he begins to get into a situation that will spiral out of control and will not end until he betrays everyone and everything that he holds dear. Standing at the bar, Garrett strikes up a conversation with a man who is as big a Yankees fan as he is. After discussing the pitching talents of El Duque, the stranger hands him a card, but it is not until he gets to work the next morning and is congratulated for doing a great job at the party that Garrett realizes he was talking to an important man. His company has been trying to do business with Ernesto Rodriguez for a long time, and now Rodriguez is willing to do that business providing Garrett is the man assigned to him. Without really knowing what exactly Rodriguez does, Garrett makes an appointment with him and is soon up to his neck in compromising situations. Rodriguez is a land developer and, through him, Garrett meets Frank Hedges and his wife, Magdalena, around whom Garrett develops a rich fantasy life--which we get to share. Six people's lives will collide over a short period of time. Not all of them will survive and those who do will never be the same. Coffey's writing, which is superb, can best be described as "edgy." --Otto Penzler
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