Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Gold Coast (John Sutter, Bk 1)

The Gold Coast (John Sutter, Bk 1)
BaileysBooks avatar reviewed on + 491 more book reviews


This was the first Nelson DeMille novel that I have ever read. Overall, I would rate my experience as average.

The concept of the novel seemed interesting: modern-day Gold Coast society meets the Mafia. However, I found the history of the Gold Coast, the ruin and abandonment of its palatial homes, and the allusions to the grandeur that was once the Gilded Age far more interesting than the story and struggles of the main characters themselves. The plot itself fell a little flat.

This story would have been much better if it had been told in a third fewer pages. In short, this felt like a plot that had nowhere to go and all day to get there. Very few of the characters were fully developed, and by the end I was at the point where I no longer cared about any of them. This was neither The Great Gatsby or The Sopranos, but rather something in the middle that rendered it anemic and easily forgettable.

I have heard that other DeMille novels are fantastic. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them.