The Emperor of Ocean Park - Hardcover

Carter, Stephen L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224062840 ISBN 13: 9780224062848

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

The most talked about fiction debut in years: a large, suspense-laden thriller that is also a novel of brilliantly astute social observation focusing on two fascinating worlds: that of the New York-Washington black upper middle class, and the complex world of an Ivy League law school. Judge Oliver Garland has just died in suspicious circumstances. Conservative and famously controversial, Garland has made many enemies. Many years ago, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation in front of a televised audience and before the eyes of his family, he had to withdraw his nomination. It was a national scandal, and a private agony, one from which he never recovered. Now, years later, the judge's death raises even more questions than his life did and seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could he have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor at an elite Ivy League law school - entrusting him with 'the arrangements' - a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's turbulent past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott must risk life, marriage and reputation, following the clues his father left him. Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, and justice gone terribly wrong.

About this title

Review:

A complex, smart mystery filled with intrigue, drama, and more than a little danger awaits readers in Stephen L Carter's engaging debut novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park.

After the funeral of his powerful father (a federal judge whose nomination to the US Supreme Court became a public scandal), Talcott Garland, an African-American law professor at an Ivy League university, is left to unravel the meaning of a cryptic note and carry out "the arrangements" his father left behind. Armed with fortitude and familial devotion--though paranoid of his wife's fidelity--Talcott soon finds himself in an investigation that entangles him with a number of questionable Washington DC denizens, including lawyers and government officials, law professors, the FBI, shady underworld figures, chess masters, and friends and family. All the while Talcott tries not to hurt his lawyer wife's chance for a judicial nomination--and their fragile marriage--but the closer he comes to unravelling his father's dark secrets, the more dangerous things become.

Clocking in at over 650 pages, the novel could easily have been streamlined; many of Talcott's thoughts are unnecessarily repeated. But Carter's storytelling skills are adept: tension builds, surprises are genuine and clues are not handed out freely. The prose, while somewhat meandering, can be crisp and insightful, as demonstrated in Carter's description of the misguided paths of young lawyers who sacrifice, "all on the altar of career... at last arriving... at their cherished career goals, partnerships, professorships, judgeships, whatever kind of ships they dream of sailing, and then looking around at the angry, empty waters and realizing that they have arrived with nothing, absolutely nothing, and wondering what to do with the rest of their wretched lives". --Michael Ferch

Review:

'A melodrama with brains and heart to match its killer plot. . . . Irresistible.' -- Kirkus

'Beautifully written and cleverly plotted. The Emperor of Ocean Park is a rich, complex family saga, one deftly woven through a fine legal thriller.' -- John Grisham

‘Spellbinding... a truly literary thriller - a masterly amalgam of suspense and sensibility’ -- Henry Louis Gates

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0224062840
• ISBN 13: 9780224062848
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 672