Blood Red, Snow White: A Novel - Hardcover

Henry, Diane; Horrock, Nicholas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316357529 ISBN 13: 9780316357524

Publisher: Little Brown & Co, 1992

Synopsis

An emotionally vulnerable Manhattan attorney is sucked into a web of drug smuggling, money laundering, and murder by his seductive new client, who manipulates him by playing damsel in distress

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A husband-and-wife pair's first novel in which up-and-coming, moderately honest Manhattan lawyer Alec Anton interrupts his defense of two clients--caught with their hands in the till--to search reluctantly for an alluring neighbor's drug-involved son. Alec's protests that he doesn't do missing persons--he just wants to be left alone to plea-bargain white-collar looters Felix Schwartzberg and Jimmy Gallagher out of prison time--don't stand a chance weighed against his divorced neighbor Lee Hastings's fabulous body, suitably and frequently deployed. But Lee's missing son Noah, barely out of his teens, is big trouble, as even slow-witted Alec gradually realizes: Noah was not only the school chum of Philip Ochoa, scion of the fabulously wealthy Colombian flower-importing family, but also the advance man for the Ochoas' multimillion-dollar American cocaine trade. And when Noah is linked to corporate blue-blood Trumbull Oakes, a pivotal figure in Felix and Jimmy's scam, the chase for the missing boy seems to be heating up. But just then, halfway through, Noah turns up dead--and the story trails off into a deeper mess than Lee's landed Alec in, as his obsessive quest for Noah turns into a series of frantic maneuvers against the bad guys, the police, and his own partners, determined to shut him out--with Lee putting in periodic appearances to remind you why Alec got involved in the first place. In due course: Alec gets seduced by a cocaine-snorting associate in his firm who lodges an affidavit against him; Felix gets blown away; Alec's US attorney buddy Vinny Santorini suppresses Alec's evidence against Oakes and puts the DEA on Alec's tail; Alec sends a copy of the evidence to Ochoa Senior; Oakes gets blown away; and Noah's killer comes after Alec and Lee in a ludicrous finale. Any questions? A feverish fantasia on themes from tormented-attorney fiction and newspaper stories on drugs and financial malfeasance. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Although this engrossing, suspenseful first novel from a husband-and-wife team of veteran journalists unfolds along predictable lines, various twists and a shocking conclusion make for a most satisfying read. Corporate attorney Alec Anton discovers a surprising link between his neighbor's missing 22-year-old son, whom he has been hired to help find, and clients of his currently being prosecuted for tax evasion; all have close ties to an investment banker who is a major Republican power broker. Meanwhile, Anton's lustful interest in the neighbor, Leland Hastings, leads him to become involved beyond the conventional attorney-client relationship. Eventually, the exposure of a massive Colombian drug-smuggling operation, complex money-laundering schemes and some grisly murders makes Anton realize that his career and indeed his very life have been placed on the line. As evidence points to banker Trumbull Oates, Anton finds himself with growing doubts about everyone from Leland's ex-husband to his own law partners (especially the attractive young associate who seduces him) and the federal prosector whose support he needs. Despite their failure to depict Leland as either sexy or vulnerable, the authors deliver, overall, a solid, well-developed tale of money, power and corruption.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Brown & Co
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0316357529
• ISBN 13: 9780316357524
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 321