Deal to Die for: A Novel - Hardcover

Standiford, Les

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060176210 ISBN 13: 9780060176211

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1995

Synopsis

Investigating his best friend's alleged suicide, John Deal and his partner, Vernon Driscoll, learn that the victim's agent has recently begun making porn movies that have attracted the attention of a Chinese gang

About this title

About the Author

Les Standiford is the director of the creative writing program at Florida International University in Miami.

Reviews

This suspenseful third John Deal crime thriller from Standiford finds the Miami building contractor tangling with Chinese gangsters who are trying to move in on a scheme hatched by two Hollywood porno magnates to create X-rated films for the huge mainland Chinese market. Deal already has troubles enough?his wife, Janice, has sunk into a deep depression over the serious burns she suffered in last year's Raw Deal, and a close friend has apparently committed suicide, shortly after she has told her film-star sister, Paige Nobleman, that Paige was adopted. Deal and his tenant/pal, ex-cop Vernon Driscoll, begin investigating Paige's birth and, eventually, the friend's death, following leads that take them directly into the porno scheme and the path of some deadly Chinese gang members. Standiford, an unusually fine thriller writer who has won the Frank O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and who directs the creative writing program at Florida International University, is at the top of his game here, displaying excellent pacing and a particular affinity for action scenes. The ongoing saga of John Deal remains especially intriguing above all, however, because its author drenches each volume in the ambiguities?sometimes rewarding, sometimes nightmarish?of real life. $25,000 ad/promo; author tour; U.K. and translation rights: Sobel Weber; first serial and dramatic rights: Nat Sobel.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

John Deal thought his life was on the mend. His contracting business was in the black, he had a beautiful daughter, and his wife, Janice, was almost through with the operations she needed after sustaining injuries in a fire a couple of years back. But without warning, Janice slips into post-traumatic stress and has to be hospitalized, and Barbara Cooper, who was Deal's emotional support through Janice's physical recovery, commits suicide. Deal finds the body and also meets Paige Nobleman, Barbara's actress sister. Although Barbara had been distraught over the recent loss of her mother, Deal doesn't buy suicide. With the help of Vernon Driscoll, an ex-cop and a good friend, Deal looks into her death. He eventually learns Barbara died not because of anything she did but because she had inadvertently discovered Paige's unwitting connection to an organization that was producing pornographic movies for export to China. The third John Deal mystery is a jaw dropper. Standiford evokes the sun-drenched South Florida scene as well as John D. and Elmore; his dialogue seems transcribed rather than imagined; and in Deal he has the most emotionally centered protagonist in contemporary crime fiction. Flawless. Wes Lukowsky

John Deal, building contractor turned sleuth from Standiford's Raw Deal (HarperCollins, 1994) and Done Deal (LJ 10/15/93), returns better than ever as he follows up on the horrible murder of his friend Barbara Cooper, who saved John's wife, Janice, in Done Deal. Barbara's estranged sister, fading actress Paige Nobleman, hires Deal and his tenant/sidekick Driscoll to find the people behind Barbara's death. The trail leads Deal and Driscoll to the West Coast, where they discover a growing market for pornographic films. This well-written, well-paced novel has gritty, believable characters and interesting subplots, such as John and Janice Deal's tenuous marriage, that reinforce the book's plausibility. This is a nice buy for public libraries with thriller readerships in need of more Stuart Woods (Dead Eyes, HarperCollins, 1994) and John Saul (Black Lightning, Fawcett, 1995).?Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060176210
• ISBN 13: 9780060176211
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336