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AMAGANSETT
by Mark Mills
HarperCollins, July 2004
Audiobook pages
13.99GBP
ISBN: 0007184751

When one thinks of the Hamptons in New York's Long Island, one thinks of the mansions, celebrities, socialites, and the lavish parties. Well, there is another side to it, those who actually live there struggling to make a life for themselves. During the late 1940s both sides of the city of Amagansett will clash when the body of a young socialite is fished out of the sea.

A clear case of a drowning accident is overruled after a fisherman points out some inconsistencies regarding the boy. Conrad Laborde was Lillian's secret lover and he knows that she was a victim of foul play. He has an idea as to what really happened and is committed to set things right.

The rich think that they have all the power in Amagansett and can get away with murder. Conrad is ready to prove them wrong and with the assistance of police captain Tom Hollis, they will get to the bottom of things and prevent a miscarriage of justice from happening. AMAGANSETT is a great first novel involving social classes and hopefully it will not be the last time we hear from this author.

The abridged recording of this great work is done by Kerry Shales who manages to bring a lively atmosphere to the novel. When he portrays the rich he does it with his nose held high bringing a taste of extreme arrogance from the people responsible for Lillian's death who thinks they can get away with it. She had something over them and for that she got killed. For the local fisherman he creates colorful characters that seem inspired by the names of the seven dwarves in SNOW WHITE. Conrad sound like a mixture between Grumpy and Happy with a gravely voice unique to the character. His friend Rollo is a cross between Bashful and Dopey sounding very happy-go-lucky loyal to the end. Tom Hollis is the voice of reason as Doc and he will make sure that everything is done by the book.

Mark Mills' novel seems to take his inspiration from Tom Wolfe's novel THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES when it comes to dealing with the rich high class and their sense of hubris. The crime novel aspect of this work is well executed (no pun intended) as the evidence against the bad guys is collected. It is like reading a James Ellroy novel. AMAGANSETT is a great novel and Mills shows promise as an author. Let's see what the future has in store for him.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, September 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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