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Overview
Sex is the most powerful force in my life. And to think I knew almost nothing about sex until a few days ago when I started a new life. That was the enigmatic message Jack Murphy left behind before taking a dive into his empty swimming pool. Officially the police are calling it a suicide. But his scriptwriting partner, Phillie Liebowitz, knew Jack better than that. And when you think your partner has been murdered, the script says you do something about it. Phillie had known for years about Jack's sexual conquests, the steady parade of bored housewives and lonely divorcees. After all, infidelity wasn't that unusual in their charmed Long Island circle. But nothing prepared Phillie for the dark trail of illicit relationships he uncovers when he begins to retrace Jack's last - and most powerful - sexual odyssey. Nothing prepared Phillie either for the onslaught of violent crime and painful betrayal unleashed by his search. Suddenly he is risking everything to find a killer. Phillie used to be faithful - faithful was what he did best. His life was devoted to his suburban values: his kids, his debts, his partner; and most impressively his wife. But the natural rhythm of Phillie's life is beating out of sync. Every bond that he once held sacred, every commitment that kept him in check, is about to be broken.In his erotic new thriller, the author of Atlantic Run takes readers on a hunt for a killer in the suburbs. When his best friend dies after diving off the roof of his Long Island house, Phillie Liebowitz finds it difficult to believe that it was a suicide. And he's completely unprepared to handle the dark trail of illicit relationships he uncovers when he retraces Jack's last--and most dangerous--sexual odyssey.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
City sin comes to the suburbs in this hard-to-swallow thriller from Davis (Voyage of the Storm). When Jack Murphy takes a fatal dive into his empty Nassau County swimming pool, his screenwriting partner, Phillie Liebowitz, tries to find out why. Computer messages left by Jack soon lead Phillie into a suburban underground of drug abuse, group sex and S&M that tunnels across the East River into the even more wicked city. Before Phillie uncovers the main villain behind Jack's death, this 44-year-old has gone riding with a biker gang, had his house bombed, been shot at and poisoned, had a tortured woman die in his arms, visited a Manhattan S&M club with his Jewish gangster cousin, picked up a much younger woman for a night of mind-shattering sex-and killed two men with a giant ice-making machine at Madison Square Garden. If Davis had presented these adventures in middle-age wish fulfillment with the humor they deserve, this novel might have worked. Instead, he leaches away the fun by allowing Phillie's narration-which offers some sharp insights into suburban life and sexual license-to descend into moralizing and sour commentary on pet peeves like doctors, Roman Catholicism and the big, bad city. By the climax, which features a naked Phillie taking on the villain as a snuff film blares on TV, most readers will want to forsake both city and suburb for the mountains, the sea, the desert-anywhere to escape this overwrought silliness. Literary Guild alternate; major ad/promo. (July)From Barnes & Noble
Phillie Liebowitz knew of his dead scriptwriting partner's sexual escapades, but when he suspects murder & follows the dark trail of Jack Murphy's latest & most shocking illicit odyssey, the last faithful husband in the suburbs is tempted beyond his wildest dreams.Book Details
Published
December 31, 1997
Publisher
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
Pages
368
Format
Paperbound
ISBN
9780553573459