This is another great piece of writng by DeMille. At first I found myself a little disappointed because the story line seemed to drag with the rich history of the Gold Coast described in detail.

But the story got much better and DeMille's words flowed easily through my mind and created a wonderful story. This story was based in the rich Gold Coast of Long Island, but the heart of the story was not about The Gold Coast. It was about a Mafia Don, Frank Bellarosa who bought a huge mansion next to John Sutter, a Wall Street Tax lawyer. The heart of the story was not the Mafia Don, but it was about John Sutter as told by him and how all of this came to intertwine. John Sutter was bored with his life, just as any of us could be and he got involved with his new exciting neighbor and it changed his life forever.

I really got into this story and it was a very good read. It also had insights into the Italian culture in America.

I read this book when it was first released but re-read it prior to the Gate House. While it is not my favorite Demille book, I was amazed at how prophetic it was about the excesses of Wall Street given the recent state of the financial markets.

I love the book; it was in ok condition. Although I love your service, I am not an admirer of your website. It is convoluted.

First off, a warning...this is not a "feel-good" book.

John Sutter and his wife Susan Stanhope-Sutter live on Long Island's Gold Coast cruising into middle-aged boredom when Frank Bellarosa, the head of one of New York's crime families, moves into the estate next door. The lives of the Sutters change as they are drawn into the life of don Bellarosa.

The book is told from John Sutter's point of view with lots of witty comments about how the middle class and upper class view each other. I felt like Nelson DeMille had called up Mark Twain for some instruction on the first half of this book. It is all very light-hearted and easy-going for at least 400 pages. There are lots of humorous occurrences and witticisms thrown in as Bellarosa maneuvers the Sutters into his life.

And all along the way the narrator warns us that bad things are coming. But the narrative is so filled with amusing banter that you think the narrator is kidding.

This book is funny, very well written, and brutal. When you finish this 600-pager you will feel like you were smashed in the face by a Mafioso with a lead pipe. It's a good book that I can't recommend

The "voice" of the protagonist/hero of "The Gold Coast" reads exactly like the "voice" of John Corey, protagonist/hero of Nelson DeMille's later novels. And that's good, because Corey is a good man, as is John Sutter, the lawyer in this book. Both are good, honorable men with very human foilables that at times overcome them in their thoughts and actions.

This is a good book, a good story about the Mafia and how good, well meaning people can be seduced and come under the Mafia's charm without even knowing it.

DeMille has a gift, and his novels are a gift to the reading public. This one seems a bit long, however. It "reads long," almost too detailed until Part V when it all comes together and gives the last 100 pages or so some of the fastest, best and most exciting action of any DeMille novel. Only "The Lion's Game" is better.

One concern: This book in hardback is 500 pages. The sequal, "The Gatehouse,due out this October (2008) is 600 pages long. Hope that's not too long, but if it's like the finish of this book, it may not be long enough.

Read this book, capice?

Normally I'm a big fan of deMille, owning all his other books. But for me this one was definitely not up to standard. The plot is as predictable as the characters. What happens when old money meets nouveau riche? Infidelity of course. Hi hi, kiss kiss, bang bang, bye bye. It's more into Barbara Cartland territory than that of a respected thriller writer.