Describes the rise and fall of Harry and Leona Helmsley--their greed, wealthy, power, corruption, and how, in evading more than four million dollars in state and federal taxes, they places themselves above the "little people" who worked under them

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True-crime author Hammer ( The CBS Murder ; Court-Martial of Lt. Calley ) here describes the careers of New York real-estate operator Harry Helmsley and his second wife, Leona, who managed the Helmsley hotel chain and was recently convicted of tax evasion. The reader's interest is piqued as Harry rises from a minor office job to control a giant apartment complex in the Bronx, vast Tudor City and the Empire State building in Manhattan, then builds luxury hotels of his own. Rivals, we're told here, respect Harry and tenants fear him. Leona is portrayed as an ingratiating salesperson, indulged by an adoring husband but despised by employees for her capricious rule as "Queen" of Helmsley hotels. The author details how extravagances at the Helmsley country estate in Connecticut were charged to the couple's hotels as business expenses, but he jumps too abruptly to Leona's trial and conviction (Harry was excused from the case because of ill health). The Helmsleys have caught the public's imagination, and so will this portrait. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The trial of real estate magnate Leona Helmsley during the summer of 1989 for income tax evasion provided an insight into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Hammer leads up to this trial by telling the story of Harry Helmsley's rags-to-riches career in New York City real estate, of his marriage late in life to Leona, and of their avaricious acquisition of wealth. Hammer's coverage of the trial adds little to what appeared in the press or what has already been discussed in previous books, including Randall Pierson's The Queen of Mean ( LJ 10/15/89) and Michael Moss's Palace Coup ( LJ 4/1/89). Much of the action is centered in New York City and has only local interest. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/89, under the title Unreal Estate: The Rise and Fall of Harry & Leona Helmsley. -- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib, West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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