The Gate House
by Nelson DeMille
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Book Reviews of The Gate House
Book Review: Wait for the Abridged, abridged Version
Summary: 1 Stars
Since the original Gold Coast 18 years ago, DeMille has acquired a new wife, a new son and probably a huge mortgage on his own Gold Coast extravagance featured in the Times Home section. This book is about money--Susan's $100 m inheritance and DeMille's: The only reason this overpadded book is a wordy 674 pages. His publisher must have offered him a deal --royalties by the page count. If you like DeMille's thrillers and I did -- the last 30 pages are all you need to read--that's 30 minutes in a bookstore--unless you are really interested in how UberWasps spend their time in Locust Valley before they die of terminal boredom--Because DeMille is not Fitzgerald or Warton, or Auchincloss or Dunne--a 600 page plus book in which Susan and John and the Stanhopes and the Sutters drink, go to the club, drink, go to funerals, have sex, drink, go shopping, talk about inheritances and John Sutter, spends endless narrative reminding us of the plot of the Gold Coast, is not an effective comedy of manners. In the last 30 pages, DeMille goes Robert Parker, the master of the economical mystery, one better. He creates his usual suspense, violence, action and resolution. After page 200 we know that the young Bellorosa is going to extract venegenance --we have to wait until the last thirty pages to find out the four w's of good writing -who, what, when, where-I hope the Gate House sells enough books so DeMille can pay off his mortgage or whatever and get back to doing what he does best -- writing action thrillers.Book Review: Rarely great, mostly not good
Summary: 2 Stars
Man alive, it hurts to give this review. I echo the sentiments of many others in here who say the book is too long and too boring. It drags in too many spots. I have never read DeMille before this book and thought to myself, "How long is this book and will it never end?" That is really saying a lot.
I also agree with one of the reviewers who said DeMille must have been getting paid by the page. There is really no other explanation as to why this book is so lengthy. There is no story for 50% of the book.
And the book's biggest weakness? John Sutter. He sucks as badly as he thinks he's cool. I can be crass in describing Mr. Sutter, he would appreciate it. I didn't think it was possible to dislike the guy I liked so much in The Gold Coast, but instead of being funny and witty, with some attitude thrown in, he's an absolute vinegar and water mixture, insufferable, condescending, and pompous. And he's all of this without merit. Reading page after page of him trying to crack jokes he thinks are brilliant when they are absolutely painful is, uh, painful.
If you liked the Gold Cost I think you have to read this book just to finish out the string. But if you skip a few pages here and there just to get through it, I wouldn't blame you.
If you can get through this book without thinking to yourself, "How much longer is this going to go on?" consider yourself very lucky.
Book Review: "As I said before", too much padding
Summary: 3 Stars
I love me some Nelson DeMille but this was a lazy effort. He and his editors could and should have cut about 200 pages. The first half of the book consists mainly of the protagonist, John Sutter, rehashing all of the events of the prior book, The Gold Coast, then rehashing them in bits and pieces yet again as the book goes on. If your main character's most common statement is "as I said before", you know you're not organizing or editing well. One of the pleasures of reading DeMille is his macho characters' funny, smartass commentary on anything and everything, and this at least is done well with John Sutter's character. Though I have to admit that I kept asking myself how a patrician tax attorney raised in a privileged society could turn out to be such a hard-ass macho man. Not really believable. But okay, I will suspend disbelief. Additional credit to DeMille because he made the Susan Sutter character more full and more likeable this time around. I found myself touched by the husband and wife (ex-husband and wife) relationship. The Sutter children were sort of cardboard cutouts however, and with this book's endless length DeMille could at least have introduced us to new interesting people. A plotline about an Iranian neighbor goes more or less undeveloped though perhaps DeMille is setting up for a third book in this series. If so, I will read it but please edit a hell of a lot better next time.Book Review: Long awaited sequel to The Gold Coast
Summary: 4 Stars
The Gate House by Nelson DeMille picks up where The Gold Coast left off. John and Susan Sutter have been divorced for ten years; he's been living in London and she's been in Hilton Head and then back to their old home on Long Island. John has to return to Long Island to manage the estate of an old family retainer and there's no way he can avoid Susan. They meet and reconcile.
Things aren't that simple, though. They must deal with the son of the Mafia boss who Susan killed ten years ago, and he just happens to be living nearby. Will he be out for revenge or will he leave things alone? They also have to deal with Susan's father who is threatening to cut Susan and the Sutters' children off financially. Then, there's the letter the family retainer left for John to read after she passes away. What's did she write to him and why?
This book is told from John Sutter's point of view and he has a sarcastic and irreverent look on life. Nelson DeMille does a masterful job of combining humor and suspense. At over 650 pages, it's a long book, but it never felt long to me - I found it hard to put down. I was drawn in by the story and felt satisfied with the climatic ending. The Gate House is the sequel to The Gold Coast, but it's not necessary to read one to enjoy the other. If books were rated like movies, this one would be rated R for language, sexual content and violence.
Book Review: I was waiting for Janice to get whacked....
Summary: 2 Stars
Until The Gate House Demille was one of the authors whose latest book I bought without reading a thing about it in advance. I read and enjoyed, though didn't love, The Gold Coast. Such a fan am I that I hung on through the entire 22 hours of the Audible version of the sequel waiting for something to happen. I was a third of the way through the book before I realized the reader was supposed to LIKE Janice Sutter, the adulterous, self-absorbed ex-wife from The Gold Coast. I couldn't detect one redeeming quality. I kept waiting for her to get whacked by that novel's dead mafioso's son. The reconciliation of Sutter and his wife was so ludicrous and unbelievable that I just knew she was going to die in some dramatic fashion. No such luck. I greatly appreciate sarcastic humor, but Sutter became very annoying very quickly, and the frequent sex romps just came off as unbelievable. Janice has got to be in her 50's by now, with kids pushing 30, yet you'd think she was 25 from the description of her perfect, slender body. Hey, I'm not saying it's impossible that these two were jumping each other every five minutes at their age and with her unsavory history, but, hey. Why DeMille needed to go on and on for 22+ hours on this crap I don't know. I mean, nothing happens. I really hope we never see these characters again and DeMille can get back to writing the thrillers he is so good at.