The Gold Coast (Price-Less Audio)

Rating:
Summary: A Man if Full for New Yorkers
Review: Demille is easily my favorite author. Only two of his books have been less than 5 stars to me. But Gold Coast is not Demille in the typical sense. As explained in the foreward, this is Demille's attempt at a truly classic American Novel. He absolutely succeeded. This is an elegantly written piece of American literature but with hints of the Adventure that makes his other books so entertaining. I love all Demille characters. He builds both good and evil as well as any author who has ever lived and Gold Coast takes that to a new high. This is a book that will touch many more emotions than fear and triumph. You will get to know these characters, you will become one or more of them and feel what they feel. I found this to not be a typical Demille fast read. This one takes some time. You will find yourself sitting and thinking about this one. I never read a book more than once. Gold Coast will be an exception - I will read it several times over coming years. Its that good.

Rating:
Summary: I laughed, I cried...
Review: I am a recent convert to DeMille. My first book was The Charm School which I liked a great deal. It was a little predictable, but it held my attention throughout, actually getting better as I read. By the end I was eager to try another DeMille book, which is pretty high praise.

I picked up The Gold Coast based on the positive reviews I read here on Amazon.com and I'm writing to add my strong recommendation for this very entertaining and poignant novel. DeMille's description of the WASP community and mindset is hilarious and affecting. The Mafia component is less successful - solid, interesting, but not especially ground-breaking.

However, the transformation of John Sutter is amazing. I found myself constantly surprised by the depth of this book. Nothing in the Charm School prepared me for the last hundred pages of the Gold Coast. The last sentence of the novel will make you gasp.

Rating:
Summary: More than for Soprano fans
Review: I think this is my favorite DeMille. However, the first time I tried to read it, I didn't make it past page 100 and people to whom I have since recommended this book have expressed complaint that the middle third is quite tedious. Most of these same folks prefer "Charm School" or even "The General's Daughter". Yet you are reading these reviews because you either are already a Demille fan or are looking for a story about this geographical area. If so, try this one. As I understand it, Demille has captured the modern nuances of the latter all to well, possibly to discomfort. More importantly to me, he captured some of the discomfort of modern romance as well. The sexual, versus the sensual, nature of his yarn hit far to close to home, but with Demille's often brilliant panache of humor, I identified with his cynical character less depressingly so. In fact, he all but became my hero. Besides, I am sure many a 'Sopranos' fan will be as seduced by the more typical Mafioso characters. Hey, if you read this far you might as well take the plunge, because like 'Fitz' you will ultimately be drawn in, happily, enjoying the ride.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Great
Review: I've read almost everything by DeMille. What usually happens is that I go into the book store, rummage around for a while, and then if I don't find anything, I go to the prominent DeMille display and get another DeMille novel I haven't read before. I enjoyed Plum Island and, before Gold Coast, thought The Charm School his best work. But generally, when I pluck a DeMille novel off the shelf, I sometimes feel a little like I'm settling, because I couldn't find anything that grabbed my attention more.

Gold Coast is one that never particularly appealed to me; although I knew nothing about it other than what was on the back cover. It was the one I never bought and never read, because it seemed the least likely to interest me. But I ran out of everything else and finally bought it the other day. It was a modest revelation. I could not believe it was by the same author as the other stuff, other than maybe The Charm School. The point above about my usually "settling" for DeMille is to emphasize just how wonderful I thought this book was, and how much I think it transcends his other work and other novels out there.

The characters are exceptionally well developed. After finishing the book, I felt as though I could tell you what they might do in situations not presented by the book, for example; in other words, I understood them. The story, the setting, and the sense of place and history were equally impressive. The writing was even above his usual standard.

In short, this is an excellent book for anyone that simply enjoys good fiction, whether you are a DeMille fan or not. I suspect his strongest advocates love this book too, but the reason I took time out to write this review, which I rarely do, is to suggest that those of you, like me, who though his other stuff was merely good not great, might really be dramatically surprised by this one.

Rating:
Summary: Best Novel I've read
Review: The Gold Coast was a fabulous, unparalleled novel about the complexities of relationships and the joy and sorrow that comes with them. I personally have always been interested in the Mafia, and what Demille has done with this book cannot even be matched by my favorite movie "The Godfather."
Throughout the story and even now I cannot decide who I like better, John Sutter or Frank Bellarosa. Sutter kept me laughing the entire time from the very first page, yet Bellarosa kept me captivated with his cool, yet evil personality as well as his motives. I highly recommend this book to people who want something more than a simple story with lots of explosions and killing and little room for imagination. Definitely not a book for people who don't like reading into the characters on their own.
However, if you're looking for a dynamite story that has absolutely everything! Love, hate, friendship, betrayal, and great sex, purchase the Gold Coast!