The Gold Coast (John Sutter Series #1) Book

"The Godfather meets The Great Gatsby on the Gold Coast"

This is a quote by the author from the forward in this book. I have read many of his books but his was a different read from what I am used to. I am mostly familiar with his mystery / suspense / thriller stories such as Plum Island featuring John Corey the ex-NYPD cop now Anti-Terrorist agent. This is a different story altogether with a different protagonist.

John Whitman Sutter is a Wall Street lawyer married to Susan Stanhope Sutter who lives on the North Shore of Long Island (The Gold Coast). The Sutter's and their WASPish friends and neighbors are still living on estates and clinging to the past trying to prevent the encroachment of developments and suburbia. They may have to live in the guest house on the estate because no one can afford to live in the manor house any more but they still have their country club, yacht club, and horses. And when things get dull there are kinky sex games. Despite all of this John Sutter is going through a mid-life crisis. Then he meets his new neighbor.

Frank "The Bishop" Bellarosa is the head of one of New York's most notorious crime families. He is from Brooklyn but accidentally stumbled upon the Gold Coast and buys the crumbling mansion next door to the Sutters. He sinks millions of dollars into restoring the estate and also sucks the Sutters into his orbit. Soon Frank Bellarosa becomes John Sutter's client ... and his mid-life crisis becomes the least of his problems.

Nelson DeMille grew up on Long Island close to where much of this story takes place. It was interesting to read about the fabled Gold Coast and imaging what life must have been like when the Astor's, Morgan's, Rockefeller's, and Vanderbilt's, et al lived like royalty. It was an intriguing look into other worlds and cultures. What really made this a good story was the interesting characters.