The Trophy Wife - Hardcover

Diamond, Diana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312206003 ISBN 13: 9780312206000

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2000

Synopsis

For the readers of Olivia Goldsmith and Susan Isaacs comes a dramatic - and fun - thriller with an over-the-top ending that will leave readers gasping.

For twenty-five years Emily Childs has been the perfect wife. She has devoted herself completely to her successful husband, Walter, on his climb to the top of the banking world, kept his home, raised his children, and entertained his clients. Now he is about to dump her for the younger, more beautiful Angela Hilliard, the perfect trophy for his life of conspicuous achievement.

But suddenly Emily vanishes from her home amidst clear evidence of violence. The kidnapper - demanding an enormous ransom - is known only by his mysterious computerized voice. Is this Walter's sick plan to get rid of his wife without the scandal that might ruin his career? Is it his mistress's way of moving Emily aside? Or is it one of Walter's business rivals, determined to beat him in the race to the chairman's office? From her basement prison, Emily pleads with her husband to save her. But as her captors panic, she realizes that she will have to save herself.

In a thriller that spans the financial towers of the world's money centers and the underworld markets of the Caribbean, Detective Andrew Hogan races against the ransom deadline to discover the identity of Emily's kidnapper. The ending to this novel of marriages, mistresses, and money is a shocker that serves as a warning to men who are reaching for that one final trophy.

About this title

About the Author:

Diana Diamond is the pseudonym of a critically acclaimed mystery and thriller writer.

From Publishers Weekly:

The pseudonymous Diamond alternates laughs with chills in this tale of marriage, kidnapping and high finance in the Susan Isaacs/Olivia Goldsmith school of social satire. With his wife, Emily, safely tucked away in a New Jersey mansion, InterBank senior vice-president and CEO hopeful Walter Childs is mentoring a young, beautiful and ambitious colleague, Angela Hilliard--whom he plans to make his trophy wife as soon as he summons the nerve to tell Emily he's leaving her. But before he can, Emily is kidnapped, the ransom demand a cool $100 million. Bank security director Andrew Hogan and private detective Helen Restivo get on the case, deducing right away that someone familiar with InterBank had to have planned the abduction. Suspects include Walter, Angela, Emily's lover Bill Leary and even Emily herself. A second ransom threat confuses the situation further, and, in some very funny scenes, Emily's thuggish captors outsmart Helen's arrogant but bumbling operatives. Switching back and forth between Emily's ordeal and the secret attempts to free her, Diamond throws out a few clues, but they're well camouflaged by her hectic pacing and sharply drawn characters. A strong climax and satisfying epilogue conclude a smart, suspense-packed novel that raises some pertinent questions about the roles of honesty, sacrifice, ambition and self-awareness in the modern corporate world. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312206003
• ISBN 13: 9780312206000
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240