The Gold Coast

By: Nelson DeMille

Narrated by: Christian Rummel, Nelson DeMille

Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to the fabled Gold Coast, that stretch on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America. Here two men are destined for an explosive collision: John Sutter, Wall Street lawyer, holding fast to a fading aristocratic legacy; and Frank Bellarosa, the Mafia don who seizes his piece of the staid and unprepared Gold Coast like a latter-day barbarian chief and draws Sutter and his regally beautiful wife, Susan, into his violent world. Told from Sutter's sardonic and often hilarious point of view, and laced with sexual passion and suspense, The Gold Coast is Nelson DeMille's captivating story of friendship and seduction, love and betrayal.

©2008 Nelson DeMille (P)2008 Hachette Audio

Great Gatsby Meets The Godfather

I thoroughly enjoyed The Gold Coast and was hooked from page 1. The plot was compelling. The main character, John Sutter, was hysterically funny and sarcastic. He is the narrator of the story, and so it was enjoyable to see his character traits, such as his snobbism, revealed through his telling of the story. Frank Bellarosa, the mafia don in the book, was actually a likeable character. I think that is one of the things that made the book fun… reading about his crazy life and his Italian background. If Bellarosa hadn’t been as interesting, then the story might have fallen flat.

The women characters were not as well developed as the men. I never got much of a sense of what motivated Susan Stanhope. However, perhaps this degree of distance was necessary to carry off the plot and the ending? Anna Bellarosa was mainly a stereotype. Somehow the shallowness of these characters didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

The history of Long Island as well as parts about Italy and the way people like Frank Bellarosa lived in “little Italy” in New York were explored in The Gold Coast. The author examined the decline of the Gold Coast era… or basically the end of the Great Gatsby type life style in this super rich area of Long Island.

Frank Bellarosa is like a modern-day equivalent to Jay Gatsby. He is super rich, but he’s on the outside striving to fit in to this new community he’s bought in to, and not quite sure how. Many of his opulent choices clash with the sensibilities of the snobbish John Sutter, but still…. Frank Bellarosa is appealing, friendly, and alluring to both John and his wife, Susan. And so… it begins.

Here is a quote from Eli on Goodreads that summarizes what I felt very succinctly:

“I'm not sure I've ever read a novel that gave me quite as much pleasure as this one. Hilarious, suspenseful, and unexpectedly moving, it comes packaged as pulp fiction, and yet without pretensions acquires real weight and power. An absolute delight. “

Spoiler alert:
The ending of the book was the part I liked the least. I can’t think how else DeMille could have ended it, but somehow I was a bit disappointed. I do like that there is a little hope in the end that John and his wife MIGHT get back together later. Maybe the next book, The Gate House, deals with that. I hope so.






.

Top 10 books I've ever read.

What made the experience of listening to The Gold Coast the most enjoyable?

Compelling. Just couldn't stop listening.

What other book might you compare The Gold Coast to and why?

Epic novel.

What about Christian Rummel’s performance did you like?

Perfect representation

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A criminal wants the respect of the rich

intriguing

i was drawn in by the characters and setting. kept me interested to the end.

S n o r e

Holy cow! Run away! Run like the wind. Of all the books wtf did I buy this one. Not only are the people boring and unlikable but they are shallow and vapid, too. Yikes!
Not interesting, not even a little.

Very well written, at times very humorous

Excellent writing. Very good story. I feel there were a couple elements that were ridiculous. Perhaps I am not sophisticated enough to understand what the author was trying to do, but those couple parts of the story, really compromised the total. I’ll give you an example that I don’t think is a real spoiler. At one point, one of the main characters is going through a bit of a nervous breakdown, he sees a new neighbor, and gets down on all 4s, and growls at her. I think I get it, old money sophisticated eccentric, chasing off the new money bleached blond. But I just don’t believe anyone does this. There’s another example involving a sail boat. I need to believe the story to really enjoy it, at times here I did not. Still, it is a very good book.

Excellent

This is a great book. I'm a big DeMille fan and this exceeded my expectations.

Packs a punch

The Gold Coast began at a slow pace. During the first third of the book, I found myself becoming increasingly annoyed with the wise-cracking, blue-blooded John Sutter and his aristocratic wife, Susan. The pace did quicken, and I became much more involved in the story. The conclusion was unexpected, and it left me with a lot to think about.

no putting it down

The characters grab you; the foreshadowing taunts you; I haven't watched TV since I started listening to this book. Get it!

Great book<br /><br />

loved the gold coast. John suttor is a good character, so is frank. I've read the gatehouse and enjoyed it also. The narrator is excellent.

Raymond Chang

Excellent listen !! Humorous, poignant and insightful to the WASPy East Coast rich and status conscious in the US.