Synopsis
Stratton Fields leads a seemingly happy life, but he is plagued by occupational jealousy, the madness of his mother, and the gambling debts of his brother. By the author of Saint Peter's Wolf. 20,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.
Reviews
The author of Ghostwright and Saint Peter's Wolf here offers an intriguing, if lightweight modern version of the Faust legend. Architect and designer Stratton Fields, scion of a prominent old San Francisco family, worries about his stalled career and rapidly dwindling wealth. He is about to lose a prestigious commission that could revive his flagging fortunes when he has a strange encounter one night with a mysterious woman; shortly thereafter, his chief competitor for the job inexplicably commits suicide. Fields's career takes off, but escalating violence threatens those closest to him, and he must come to grips with the frightening possibility that he has sold his soul to unseen, uncontrollable powers. Stock characters--the well-dressed, ruthless corporate head, the philanthropic girlfriend, the sympathetic psychiatrist who knows all about the occult--and a melodramatic plot jammed with lurid family secrets give this suspense novel the feel of a TV movie. Cadnum's fine eye for detail and his basically entertaining story, however, help to overcome the novel's overfamiliar scenario.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Cadnum (Ghostwright, 1992, etc.) tells a subtly shaded (and sometimes opaque) tale that flickers between illusion and reality, psychological and occult terror: Did Stratton Fields sell his soul for power--or are the deaths of his enemies and the triumph of his career due not to infernal intervention but to his own homicidal madness? Stratton, who narrates, is favored to win a competition to redesign Golden Gate Park: Though he's known as an architectural lightweight, his plans for the park are extraordinary; moreover, he's a scion of San Francisco's most prominent family. But Stratton learns from contest head--and old family friend--Blake Howard that the award will go to someone else because design-mogul Ty DeVere, who hates the old-moneyed Fieldses, has bribed Howard and rigged the award against Stratton. To Stratton's shock, however, the winner kills himself on TV, confessing the fix, and, the next day, Howard is found murdered--a crime the cops suspect Stratton of. Meanwhile, Stratton is haunted by an unseen presence that finally coalesces into a beautiful woman who tells him, ``Your enemies are ours,'' and then vanishes--an apparition soon followed by that of Stratton's dad, eight years dead, who warns his son to ``Accommodate Them.'' Soon after, DeVere is also dead, perhaps murdered, and Stratton's career skyrockets--but emotional disaster strikes when the architect's fianc‚e, Nona Lyle, is beaten into a coma: revenge wreaked upon Stratton by DeVere's mentor, allusive billionaire Peter Renman. Further blows follow--including revelations of familial madness and murder--as Stratton wrestles with the question of his sanity, while all along he grows in worldly and personal power--power that he can turn to good...or evil. Beautifully observed--typical of Cadnum--and effectively disturbing, though literal-minded readers will find the unresolved tightrope walk between phantasm and hallucination as frustrating as it is provocative. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
A talented landscape architect, Stratton Fields has one regret: he is not taken as seriously as he might be were he not the son of an old-money San Francisco family. He then learns that a contest was rigged against him, and the man who engineered the cheat, a powerful presence in the fashion and decorating world who resents Stratton's advantages, lets him know that Stratton will never get a fair chance. Suddenly, the people who stand in Stratton's way commit suicide, and he begins to encounter specters. Has Stratton unknowingly made a pact with some supernatural force to bring about the deaths? Or has he murdered these people himself without knowing it? His sense of powerlessness grows, but when his own lover is beaten by friends of the dead man, he knows he must confront both the humans and the spirits who are causing mayhem to discover the truth. This well-written thriller takes its time, building evidence and events slowly so the reader can savor every scene. For popular collections.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Action International, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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