The Gold Coast (John Sutter Series #1)

by Nelson DeMille

Overview

Welcome to the fabled Gold Coast, that stretch on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America. Here two men are destined for an explosive collision: John Sutter, Wall Street lawyer, holding fast to a fading aristocratic legacy; and Frank Bellarosa, the Mafia don who seizes his piece of the staid and unprepared Gold Coast like a latter-day barbarian chief and draws Sutter and his regally beautiful wife, Susan, into his violent world. Told from Sutter's sardonic and often hilarious point of view, and laced with sexual passion and suspense, The Gold Coast is Nelson DeMille's captivating story of friendship and seduction, love and betrayal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446515047
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	04/01/1990
Series:	John Sutter Series , #1
Pages:	500
Sales rank:	227,621
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Nelson DeMille is a former U.S. Army lieutenant who served in Vietnam and is the author of nineteen acclaimed novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Night Fall, Plum Island, The Gate House, The Lion, The Panther and Radiant Angel. His other New York Times bestsellers include The Charm School, Word of Honor, The Gold Coast, Spencerville, The Lion's Game, Up Country, Wild Fire, and The General's Daughter, the last of which was a major motion picture. For more information, you can visit NelsonDeMille.net.

Hometown:

Long Island, New York

Date of Birth:

August 22, 1943

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A. in political science, Hofstra University, 1974

Website:

http://www.nelsondemille.net/

Read an Excerpt

The Gold Coast

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By Nelson DeMille

Warner Books

Copyright © 1997 Nelson DeMille
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0446673218

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Chapter One

I first met Frank Bellarosa on a sunny Saturday in April at Hicks' Nursery, an establishment that has catered to the local gentry for over a hundred years. We were both wheeling red wagons filled with plants, fertilizers, and such toward our cars across the gravel parking field. He called out to me, "Mr. Sutter? John Sutter, right?"

I regarded the man approaching, dressed in baggy work pants and a blue sweatshirt. At first, I thought it was a nurseryman, but then as he drew closer, I recognized his face from newspapers and television.

Frank Bellarosa is not the sort of celebrity you would like to meet by chance, or in any other way, for that matter. He is a uniquely American celebrity, a gangster actually. A man like Bellarosa would be on the run in some parts of the world, and in the presidential palace in others, but here in America, he exists in that place that is aptly called the underworld. He is an unindicted and unconvicted felon as well as a citizen and a taxpayer. He is what federal prosecutors mean when they tell parolees not to "consort with known criminals."

So, as this notorious underworld character approached, I could not for the life of me guess how he knew me or what he wanted or why he was extending his hand toward me. Nevertheless, I did take his hand and said, "Yes, I'm John Sutter."

"My name's Frank Bellarosa. I'm your new neighbor."

What? I think my face remained impassive, but I may have twitched. "Oh," I said, "that's ..." Pretty awful.

"Yeah. Good to meet you."

So my new neighbor and I chatted a minute or two and noted each other's purchases. He had tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and basil. I had impatiens and marigolds. Mr. Bellarosa suggested that I should plant something I could eat. I told him I ate marigolds and my wife ate impatiens. He found that funny.

In parting, we shook hands without any definite plans to see each other again, and I got into my Ford Bronco.

It was the most mundane of circumstances, but as I started my engine, I experienced an uncustomary flash into the future, and I did not like what I saw.

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille Copyright © 1997 by Nelson DeMille. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

''The Gold Coast'' glitter is Nelson DeMille's sharp evocation of the vulpine Bellarosa and of Sutter, a wonderfully sardonic, self-mocking man betrayed by a midlife crisis. In his way, Mr. DeMille is as keen a social satirist as Edith Wharton....The novel bogs down only when Mr. DeMille insists - all too frequently - on ending chapters with heavy-handed portents. The reader does just fine without them.
— The New York Times

Joanne Kaufman

The Long Island Gold Coast once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America. Mafia don Frank Bellarosa, a late-twentieth-century version of wealth and power, acquires the estate next to John Sutter, respected Wall Street tax lawyer. Like a moth to the flame, Sutter is drawn into Bellarosa’s world. The story, first published in 1990, is told in Sutter’s words, and Christian Rummel’s narration is sterling. From the Gold Coast upper-crust accent known as “Locust Valley lockjaw” to the streetwise banter of the Mob, each character comes to life. Conversations between Sutter and Bellarosa are so realistic listeners may feel they’re tied into a federal wiretap. With authentic settings and real people, THE GOLD COAST (now followed by a sequel, THE GATE HOUSE) provides an entertaining view of the sordid lives of the rich and famous. T.J.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2009 - AudioFile