EricCWelch

Even though this book does not star John Corey, its protagonist, John Sutter, indulges in the same sardonic wit and wisecracks that endeared Corey to me. This may also be one of the best books written about the Mafia, better, I think, than The Godfather. Two disparate worlds collide when Frank Bellarosa, a famous underworld chief, buys the Long Island Gold Coast estate next to John Sutter, wealthy Wall Street lawyer, husband to Susan Stanhope, whose rich, arrogant family owns the property they live on. (There is a great scene toward the end, when John tells off his father-in-law.) John wants to be a good neighbor, but will have nothing to do with the seamier side of Bellarosa. He refuses to do any legal work for him, won’t meet him for lunch, does nothing that might jeopardize his reputation as an honest lawyer. Before he knows it, however, Frank has done him a favor, one that he really could not refuse. It involved moving the horse stable, an old stone building, and having it exactly reconstructed in a different location on the property. John realized that the estimate he was given by the Bellarosa contractor was ridiculously low, and he did not want to accept it, but the contractor made it clear that life would be very difficult for him (the contractor) if John refused. Soon, Sutter has been trapped into being Bellarosa’s lawyer in a murder case. He realizes that Bellarosa has been framed by a publicity-seeking state’s attorney whose real motive is to precipitate a gang war among rival families in New York. Before long, Sutter discovers that he is being manipulated by both sides: Bellarosa and the state using a trumped up IRS charge to put him in a difficult legal situation that John can only escape with the help of a shady Bellarosa lawyer. He wonders if Bellarosa’s purchase of the estate and seduction of Susan hadn’t been part of a strategic plan to ensnare Sutter’s legal assistance, because Bellarosa knows only a seemingly incorruptible lawyer can get him out on bail and prevent the state’s attorney from succeeding in his quest for setting the various mobs against each other. DeMille explores many contrasts in this book: the sexual vs. the sensual, rural vs. city, rich vs. poor, corrupt vs. so-called honest. Sutter, in his cynical way, reveals the hypocrisy in much of what we label “high society” even as he is sucked, quite unwillingly, into a maelstrom of corruption that he wonders if he can ever control. This is a really fun read.