Second Vision

Realizing that he has died and now walks unseen throughout the world, former rich man Henry Somerset uses his new abilities as a spirit to extract revenge against those who wronged him in life and seeks the reason behind his death. A first novel.

Apparently written for fans of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous , this pretentious first novel avidly drops names of expensive champagnes but offers little in the way of quality characterization. Narrator H. W. Somerset, billionaire financier, discovers one day that he is "freshly dead." Unable to quit the earthly plane, Somerset's spirit encounters E. C. Douglas, another wealthy businessman, when Douglas makes a trip to the cemetery. Enjoying his newfound ghostly powers, Somerset uses Douglas as his proxy in his most spectacular business deal yet, one with the added bonus of bankrupting his wife, his lawyer and anyone else whom he perceives to have wronged him when he was alive. But the deal, which involves the Vatican and the Mafia, disintegrates when Douglas falls in love with a callous but beautiful opera singer who breaks his heart and causes him to drive his Ferrari off a cliff. Filled with adolescent fantasies of sex and money, including numerous scenes in which Somerset spies on others making love, the long and repetitive narrative lingers over long lists of dinner parties, furniture and jewelry. Although the author takes some broad swipes at morality toward the end, most readers will have been long turned off by Somerset and his rich, immoral playmates.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Vallone has written an often amusing but unoriginal first novel about life and revenge after death among the very, very rich. Henry Somerset, one of America's wealthiest men, wakes up one morning to realize that he is dead. The reclusive financier, whose motto is ``Mine, all mine,'' is able to move around at will, blink himself from one continent to another, and even enter other people's dreams. But he can't remember how he died. An opportunity to exact revenge on those who mistreated him in life presents itself in the person of E.C. Marshall. A businessman almost as eccentric as Henry, E.C. is adopted by Henry's Irish wolfhound, Bozo, and soon acquires Henry's pyramid-like home (complete with bomb shelters and secret rooms), his vast art collection, and his loving assistant, Susan Cleave. With a little help from Bozo, Henry directs E.C. to secret treasures and interests him in the deal that was to be the crown jewel in Henry's career--until he was betrayed by his wife, Harriet, and nephew, Gustavo. The scheme, which involves Henry's partners in the Vatican and the Mafia, will bankrupt Henry's family. Henry loses control when E.C., who has become richer and more unhappy than he ever imagined, is enchanted by an evil opera singer and turns his back on true love. Harriet decides that she wants E.C. and his new wealth herself and is willing to resort to murder. The Vatican and the Mafia try to regain control using the Vatican's secret children and their powers of second sight, but ultimately it is Henry who must face the mystery of his death in order to bring about his own redemption and ease the passage of the others. Vallone's displays of knowledge about everything from Egyptian art to modern finance get long-winded, but when he's not trying to impress, he's often entertaining. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Rich, ruthless Henry Somerset "awakens" one morning to discover that he died during the night. In his new state of being, he is able to observe and influence the behavior of those who were closest to him while seeking revenge for wrongs against him. The characters in Vallone's long, wordy fantasy are-with a single exception-totally despicable and incapable of garnering any empathy, while the plot is riddled with inconsistencies. Henry, the ghost, is conveniently able to perform all kinds of tricks to move the plot along, but even fable and farce must be grounded in the believable to be effective. Meanwhile, readers are subjected to Henry's acerbic opinions on politics, lawyers, love, sex, art, religion, and fashion, long self-indulgent treatises that only get in the way of the story. Not recommended.
Marion Hanscom, SUNY at Binghamton Lib.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In his first novel, Vallone reenters the much-explored territory of where we go, what we see, and what we can do once we die. In this case, the deceased is multimillionaire Henry Somerset, who wakes one morning to find himself outside his body. He watches with growing interest as events unfold around him, especially when another millionaire, E. C. Davis, wanders into the tangle of his former life. Somerset soon realizes he still has the power to influence the living world, and he uses it, and Davis, to seek revenge on his wife, who he believes murdered him. Somerset begins to have misgivings, though, as he watches Davis blunder into the same traps of solitude and sadness that had snared him. Vallone's prose is a bit rough around the edges, and his name-dropping in the world of high fashion and culture clutters the text. He has, however, created an absorbing and addictive read. David Cline