Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990 TAG: 9007040086
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by JUDY KWELLER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We've always known that "the rich are different," especially the very wealthy old families who live behind the gates and facades of baronial estates in choice U.S. real estate. F. Scott Fitzgerald and other writers have captured this in a metaphor of a dangerous, elusive aura of elegant beauty that hides a slightly rotten, putrid core of evil. Dominick Dunne's "An Inconvenient Woman" brings this metaphor to life in a brilliant, acerbic portrait of the Mendelson family and the world they live in.
Set in the ultra-wealthy milieu of a Los Angeles social set so exclusive that they snub mere millionaires and detest the Hollywood elite, "An Inconvenient Woman" is fascinating reading. It begins with the murder of Hector Paradiso, a descendent of an original Spanish Land Grant family, and moves relentlessly through a complicated and compelling story of murder, lust and greed.
Phillip Quennell, a New York journalist, is the protagonist and his investigation of Paradiso's murder sets off a chain of events that reveals and destroys the aristocratic, manipulative Mendelson family, along with some of its victims. Dunne, the author of several successful novels, is a master craftsman; "An Inconvenient Woman" is one of his best.
Dragon.\ By Clive Cussler. Simon & Schuster. $21.95.
"Dragon" is sure to be popular this summer. It's yet another Dirk Pitt adventure in which he saves America and the rest of the semi-free world, as entertaining as it is improbable.
Hideki Suma, an evil Japanese industrialist, has masterminded a plot involving nuclear bombs hidden in Murimoto automobiles exported to strategic locations all over the world. If his plans work, he will be able to blackmail the entire world and end any U.S. effort to restrict imports. All he has to do is complete the detonator that will guarantee the threat of the total destruction of all information systems, not to mention the world as we know it. Here's where Dirk Pitt, Cussler's larger-than-life hero and Special Projects Director of NUMA, comes in.
Pitt is a wonderful character. If you've not met him before, you're in for a treat. "Dragon" is a near-perfect beach novel.
The Dream Breakers.
By Louise Pennington. Simon & Schuster. $19.95.
Jerry Della Femina said "Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on." It is. It's also the most exciting, crazy and sometimes painful thing you do. That's why I don't understand why Louise Pennington, a former account executive with Saatchi & Saatchi no less, felt the need to turn "The Dream Breakers" into a lightweight, pedestrian romance set in the world of advertising. She had much more fertile ground to plow.
Her characters are shallow and predictable and her plot is trite. That's a shame because she is at her best when recreating what really goes on in an ad agency. "The Dream Breakers" is full of piercing glances, heaving bosoms and hot, flushed cheeks. At the ad agency where I work, we're usually clammy and chilled for fear we'll miss a deadline or screw up a project. That's more than enough drama.
by CNB