The Money Lovers - Hardcover

Watts, Timothy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569470081 ISBN 13: 9781569470084

Publisher: Soho Pr Inc, 1994

Synopsis

A set of disreputable characters, including con man Nicky, sadistic killer Wesley, and Nicky's flashy wife Katherine--along with a lone innocent, ex-marine Jimmy--pursue their love of money along a South Carolina trail littered with murder and blackmail. Tour.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Fans of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, and Barry Gifford take note: Watts (Cons, 1993) has penned a noir novel of greed, graft, and lust just filled with kinky, double-crossing sleazeballs. Wesley, carrying a bag full of ransom money taken from an Atlantic City millionaire he's tortured and killed, shows up at Nicky Kramer's South Carolina manse hoping to use the marked cash to invest in one of Nicky's ``deals.'' Boyish-faced, pot-bellied Nicky is married to Katherine, a very successful fashion model with a severe drinking problem. The most recent additions to her portfolio are going to cost her money: They show her doing intimate things to and with a man, not her husband. The guy collecting the blackmail is Ellis Bowers, a gun-loving weightlifter with an acne problem he disguises with makeup. Ellis (who eats nothing but shrimp) is involved in the deal with Susie who appears to be calling the shots. She's Katherine's ``best friend,'' but she's also sleeping with Nicky. All of these folks are waiting for Nicky to consummate a real-estate scam with some all-too-gullible local businessmen. Onto this scene strides ex-Marine Jimmy Decker, fresh from the Gulf War, where he specialized as a sniper. An old high school sweetheart, he decides to rescue Katherine after Nicky brutally rapes her. (Not completely defenseless, she gets Nicky's gun and blows away his CD player--she hates Sinatra--while a delighted Wesley looks on.) Jimmy (who also has his eye on Susie) and Katherine hole up in a motel while he tries to sort out her various problems. When Nicky collects the money from the ``investors'' in the swindle, it becomes a scramble to see who will end up with which woman, who will wind up with the money--and who will stay alive. Despite a less-than-polished narrative, a diverting, gritty caper peopled by delightfully detestable creatures. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Down in Beaufort, South Carolina, there's a daisy chain of sorts, with every player squeezin' the guy in front while gettin' goosed from the rear. Katherine, a former model, is married to Nicky, a onetime Wall Street whiz kid now trying to organize a real-estate scam. Then there's Wesley, an investor with dirty cash from a murder-kidnapping. And don't forget Suzy, Katherine's best friend, who is Nicky's lover. Suzy's real boyfriend seduced a drunken Katherine--with a push from Suzy--and took pictures. He's blackmailing Katherine. Into this mess steps Jimmy Decker, Katherine's high-school lover. He's fresh from a 10-year hitch in the Marines and the Persian Gulf War. It's not long before he's sleeping with Katherine and extricating her from the blackmailer. As the music plays, the daisy chain shifts; alliances are forged and abandoned daily as the principals determine who has the power, the money, and the best con. The characters all have what they feel is a moral center, but it shifts according to their proximity to the big score. Favorable comparisons to Elmore Leonard are unavoidable while reading this extraordinary second novel from the author of the equally memorable Cons (1992). The dialogue is hip without being obvious, the tension is palpable, and the ending is a satisfying double-clutch in which at least two of the players look in a mirror and acknowledge their true selves. In a cynical sort of way, it's damned romantic. Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: Soho Pr Inc
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1569470081
• ISBN 13: 9781569470084
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262