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Search - The Emperor of Ocean Park
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The Emperor of Ocean Park Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged), Audio Cassette (Unabridged)
Book Description:
A large, stirring novel of suspense that is, at the same time, a work of brilliantly astute social observation. The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard--old families who summer on Martha's Vineyard--and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school.
It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime. The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends.
Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.
But now the Judge's death raises even more questions--and it seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with the mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's past.
When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott--wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action--must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.
It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime. The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends.
Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.
But now the Judge's death raises even more questions--and it seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with the mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's past.
When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott--wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action--must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Jennie B. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is a big, juicy book -- Carter drafts a multi-layered tale, rich in detail and deliciously suspenseful. The characters are completely drawn, with real heart. A nice, long read that will hold your attention to the end.
Please Rate these Book Reviews
Laurie H. (Is Racism OK?
Apparently, if the racist is black and the object of his racism is white people, yes. Stephen Carter rails against white people in horrid generalizations and cliches in this book. It's incredibly offensive to anyone who has worked against racism or who has been a victim of racism.
In addition, the book is so depressed and negative about EVERYTHING, I can't imagine why anyone would want to read it. The protagonist hates nearly everyone, and nearly everything he comes in contact with. As he sees it, there are few redeeming qualities in anyone in his life. He loves his wife, but he criticizes her and puts her down constantly.
I couldn't finish it, and I recommend you don't start it.
A mystery threads through the novel, but it's most interesting as a look at upper middle class black America and Ivy league academia.
from the book jacket: "An extraordinary fiction debut: a large, stirring novel of suspense that is, at the same time, a work of brilliantly astute social observation. The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard--old families who summer on Martha's Vineyard--and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime. . . . Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident--a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice gone terribly wrong."
A complex, smart mystery filled with intrigue, drama, and more than a little danger awaits 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 U.S. 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, D.C., denizens, including attorneys 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 attorney wife's chance for a judicial nomination--and their fragile marriage--but the closer he comes to unraveling his father's dark secrets, the more dangerous things become.
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