Two Women
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
An accountant’s attempt to rectify the books of his father-in-law’s company sends him headlong into war with the New York mafia
John Carver is too good an accountant not to see the irregularity in his father-in-law’s files: three companies, all off shore, with balance sheets that don’t match the ones in the official records. Three companies that represent substantial investment by organized crime. When John confronts his father-in-law, George W. Northcote, the old man insists he has control of the situation, and that the firm is about to be extricated from its criminal association. A few days later, George is dead. His father-in-law’s creative accounting draws John into a knock-down, drag-out battle with the heads of the Five Families of the New York mafia. The battle moves quickly off the balance sheets and into the realm of flesh, blood, and death, and soon everyone John loves—including his wife and mistress—find themselves in the mob’s vengeful crosshairs. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Freemantle pretty much defines "old pro" in the thriller genre; 2002 saw the publication of Ice Age and Kings of Many Castles (his most recent Charlie Muffin/MI6 adventure). But prolificacy can be a two-edged sword, as this creaky and rough-hewn attempt at a mafia thriller proves. In telling the story of New York accounting firm executive John Carver's battle with the ruling families of American crime, Freemantle creates scenes that feel oddly askew almost akin to those black-and-white movies about American criminals that British studios produced in the 1950s. There's no shortage of action, and Carver's wife and his mistress both central to the novel's plot are sharply delineated. His wife, Jane, the protected daughter of the firm's domineering founder, must slowly come to terms with her father's criminal behavior as well as her husband's infidelity; his mistress, Alice, is a shrewd financial journalist but also a woman with strong mothering instincts. Jane is still reeling from her father's death when the news comes that her husband has been killed, too, in another "accident" that smacks of foul play. Alice aids the distraught Jane, and the two become uneasy partners in a world where they can trust no one not even each other as the mob closes in and the FBI probe heats up. Their scenes together are always interesting and often credible, but the same can't be said for the unconvincing bad guys.
