The Last Virginia Gentleman - Hardcover

Kilian, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312078595 ISBN 13: 9780312078591

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1992

Synopsis

A southern millionaire, a Washington diplomat, a troubled movie star, a notorious billionare horseman, and others become caught up in a struggle with the President of the United States

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Reviews

A potent mix of sex, money, politics and murder propels the plot of Kilian's action-filled Washington-based suspense thriller. Ambitious White House chief of staff Robert Moody, working to win Senate passage of an environmental treaty, has failed to deliver on a promise he made to his billionaire best friend Bernie Bloch to bid on a thoroughbred horse in Bloch's behalf. The horse goes instead to Moody's disaffected daughter May, who buys it as a gift for David Showers, a rider who has impressed her with his sportsmanship. Showers realizes that the animal's papers are phony and decides to investigate the previous owners, especially since the Queen Tashamore bay is clearly worth far more than the price May paid. Showers's job at the State Department involves the aforementioned treaty, a complication as Moody pressures him to sell the horse to Bloch. Ensuing events produce a wake of dead bodies, human and equine. Although many of the characters are stereotypes (the horsey set is insufferably WASPy) and much of the action is based on real events that have lost their timeliness, Kilian's ( Looker ) depiction of the political arm-twisting is dead-on and the powerful resolution delivers a strong surprise.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Politicians, thugs, and the gentry tangle in the beautiful horse-country of the Old Dominion. Good bloodlines prove their worth in a civilized and literate thriller by the author of Looker, Blood of the Czars, and Dance on a Sinking Ship. Captain David Showers USAR, is perhaps the best amateur steeplechase rider in the Virginia hunt country. He is, in addition, the near-penniless owner of a horseless family farm; a self-effacing State Department functionary; and, to the exasperation of his lavishly loose ex-wife and his many horse- loving friends, unshakably honorable. Captain Showers's honor is put to the test when he is given a horse by an exceptionally pretty actress as a reward for conspicuous gallantry on the racecourse. The horse is one David wants very much, a descendant of his family's own line of champions. Or is it? The beast is strangely short in the tooth for its age, and it's wearing one stocking too many. When he digs into the matter, David learns that he has a rival for the horse's affections. There is a Baltimore billionaire who would pay anything to get his hands on it. The billionaire is the backer and best friend of the actress's estranged father, an up-the-hard-way politician who is now the President's chief of staff. When David won't sell, the billionaire starts to call in his political chits, and bullets start flying around the serene countryside. It's not enough that David is proving difficult about the mysterious animal, he's also become awkwardly involved with the highest levels of diplomacy. Smooth, intelligent, and genteelly exciting. Upstairs, Downstairs in the saddle. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In his seventh suspense novel, the author of Looker ( LJ 12/90) plunges into the heart of Virginia horse country and Washington politics. When May, daughter of the White House Chief of Staff, mistakenly buys a thoroughbred intended for a New Jersey mob, the mannered world of steeplechases and Southern breeding erupts into violence so intense that neither horses nor humans escape the relentless pounding. Disaster looms, not only for May, but also for the all-important Earth Treaty and her father's goal of becoming the next secretary of state. The eponymous gentleman farmer, who discerns the scam behind the thoroughbred deal and falls in love with May, unleashes a chain of events only a master plotter like Kilian can control. Ablaze with local color and alive with Washington innuendo, this horse story for adults conveys excitement, nobility, and human corruption in gargantuan proportions.
- Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312078595
• ISBN 13: 9780312078591
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 374