Synopsis:
That is why the police are profoundly baffled when Sebastian Locke is found dead at his country estate under mysterious circumstances. Has he been murdered? And if so, who would have wanted to kill the world's greatest philanthropist? Could such an upstanding man have had enemies? As in all of her previous bestsellers, Barbara Taylor Bradford engages you from the very first page in this startling new novel. From Connecticut to Provence, Paris, London, and Africa, Bradford masterfully steers you through the turbulent emotional gamut of Locke family life -- the love, lust, and passion, the ambition, jealousy and pain. Large Print Edition.
Reviews:
Hate, lust and considerable intrigue propel Bradford's latest (after Everything to Gain), a romantic mystery. Sebastian Locke, the last great philanthropist, has the world at his fingertips?power, money and a beautiful fiancee. Suddenly, mysteriously, he commits suicide?or does he? The answer is unveiled through a series of first-person narratives by members of his dysfunctional family. Vivien, his third wife, who seduced, married and divorced Sebastian but remained his confidante, will stop at nothing to learn the truth behind his death. But the philanthropist's son, Jack, hated his father with a passion that rendered the younger man impotent; glad to be out from under his father's shadow, he couldn't care less about the truth. Meanwhile, Luciana, the fragile daughter with a will of iron that matches her father's, is determined to gain control of Sebastian's assets and to start a new Locke dynasty of her own. Bradford's writing style is dialogue-heavy and laid-back, sometimes passionless, but the clever and unexpected plot twists, capped by the revelation of Sebastian's shattering secret, will keep the author's many fans entranced. $250,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; simultaneous HarperAudio release; simultaneous large print edition from G.K. Hall; author tour; rights: Janklow & Nesbit.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The unexpected suicide of billionaire philanthropist Sebastian Locke troubles Vivienne Trent, who knows that only some horrible revelation could have motivated his self-destruction. Vivienne investigates, and along the way readers share the perspectives of Sebastian's two children before a mysterious countess provides a horrifying explanation. The facile psychological explanations, laced with jargon to explain Sebastian's inability to love, may grate on some readers. A series of improbable coincidences and the large age gaps between sexual partners that figure in the plot resolution may bother others. Still, the central drive to solve the riddle pulls the reader along. Hints of the next Locke generation plus a romance in progress for Vivienne point to a sequel. Bradford's (Angel, Random, 1993) popularity and the selection of her novel by major book clubs ensure heavy public library demand. [A Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/95.]?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
-?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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