Pyon

When the rarely-seen billionaire Christy Pyon is accidentally photographed at the Cannes Film Festival with his new girlfriend, his wife, Maria, vows revenge

British author Burden ( Rags ) paints a romantic picture of a fearless but fallible tycoon in this unexceptional family saga. Having secured her son Christy's birthright in a hasty upstairs/downstairs marriage, Irish mum Maeve Pyon watches him brawl and outfox his way to billionairedom. As Christy launches a problematic takeover bid for the U.S.-based conglomerate Chemco, a paparazzo's widely published photo of him with his black Mauritian mistress enrages his Italian wife and strains his relationships with his ex-wife and their children. The high-stakes story lines draft a hand-picked international shark pack, a passel of traitors, mafioso wannabes and other suitably soap opera-ish types, but Burden winds up the action with a powerfully unexpected ending.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a novel that is more middle aged-male-fantasy drivel than romantic literature, Burden follows the life of Christy Pyon, a grandiose caricature of the self-made British tycoon. Women of all ages and descriptions throw themselves with abandon at Pyon, business enemies cower at the thought of tangling with him on the financial market, and his children from two marriages constantly seek his approval. When the press catches him red-handed with a young Mauritian beauty, his current Italian wife's scheme to bring about his downfall includes kidnapping his daughter, sleeping with his son, enlisting the aid of his English first wife, and inflicting bodily and financial harm on him. Through it all, Pyon maintains his narcissistic self-confidence. Pyon makes dull reading until the surprise ending. Not recommended.
-Heather Blenkinsopp, Mercy Coll. Lib., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.