The Gold Coast is a novel that is a little hard to categorize in the recognized genres. Nelson DeMille is primarily known as a suspense or thriller writer, but this one has a bit more meat to it.

John Sutter is a married Wall Street lawyer who lives on a prestigious stretch of shore on Long Island. He and his wife have an unusual and rather strangely kinky marriage. Anyway, their lives take an unexpected turn when a reputed Mafia don moves in next door. Frank Bellarosa certainly knows how to make an impression. A peculiar friendship develops between the two men, and Sutter gets a glimpse into a world darker than he can imagine. His life and marriage were already complicated enough before Bellarosa’s arrival, and these new developments are about to take him into deeper waters in which he may never be able to escape.

DeMille is known to give his protagonists a certain bit of wry sarcasm that is kind of distinctive and common. The novel is written in first person from Sutter’s point of view, and he tuns out to be an interesting guy even if his profession sounds a bit stuffy.

In this edition, DeMille has penned an introduction in which he considers this novel one of his best works, and he is probably right. I have not read many of his works, but I have been exposed enough to them to determine that he does have talent. Many of his characters do sort of run together because it seems most of them have a similar sardonic manner. Fortunately, DeMille is actually rather funny in his prose, so it’s not that annoying or distracting.

The story does have a slow burn at the beginning. There is a lot of exposition describing the layout of the Gold Coast and the particulars of Sutter’s marriage. There is a sense of authenticity in that Sutter’s situation is rather complicated, which is more often true in real life, particularly when it comes to those with wealth and large assets. This means that DeMille does a great job of making totally fictional characters at least plausible.

Although I could probably have lived without the gratuitous sexual shenanigans between Sutter and his wife, this novel was a good start to the reading journey of 2026. I did enjoy it very much even though it took me a little longer than I prefer to get through it.

I should also mention that this novel was published in 1990, so it was kind of nice to get a reminder of what the country was like back then and in an environment and lifestyle that I will likely never be able to touch. DeMille does a great job of sparking the imagination and nostalgia which is one of the many great joys of being an avid fiction reader.

Now, I will be turning into some more familiar territory on my next reading selection. It has been a few months since I checked in with game warden Joe Pickett and his family. This will have a somewhat ironic title since my neighbors and I have just endured quite a blast of frigid weather. C.J. Box is about to continue the exploits of Joe Pickett with Below Zero.

Dirt is an interesting crime novel from the late Stuart Woods and features Stone Barrington, who is a somewhat strange combination of attorney and private investigator.

This is a pretty lengthy series which is still continuing with the aid of ghost writers. This particular novel was written by the man himself and published in 1996.

A syndicated gossip columnist named Amanda Dart is being harassed by faxes that expose some of her extracurricular activities. Her reputation is on the line, and Amanda isn’t used to being the one on the receiving end of embarrassing revelations. She turns to Stone Barrington for some help in identifying the perpetrators. Barrington is an ex-police detective who retired early and joined the legal profession. He now works somewhat unique cases for a law firm and does well. Stone contends with some dangerous people to help his seductively headstrong client, but he is certainly no stranger to trouble. An old friend gets murdered during the investigation, and Stone is even more motivated to run these miscreants down.

The plot itself is pretty compelling. Amanda Dart is certainly not in a panic about her situation, but she is kind of hard to sympathize with. Barrington is pretty sharp and fairly interesting as a lead character, but there isn’t that much to make him stand out in the pantheon of fictional detectives.

I am not sure if this is a regular component in a Stuart Woods novel, but I was caught a bit flat-footed by the gratuitous sex going on, particularly at the beginning. At the risk of coming off as a bit prudish, I found some of these scenes a bit jarring and distracting. I think Woods would have done better to allow more to be left to the imagination.

Even Barrington was displaying some remarkably poor judgment when it came to a couple of these liaisons.

As far as writing style, Woods is competent with his prose. It’s an easy read but not so much so that it seems insulting.

Other than the random sex scenes, there is not much that I will find memorable about this particular literary venture.

A couple of months ago, I was in a bookstore where a signing was occurring, and I went ahead and bought one from a local writer. I think it’s time to allow author Tierney James to introduce me to a An Unlikely Hero.