book
pick
A literary goldsmith
Nelson DeMille hit the mother lode
with The Gold Coast
Signed book
gıveaway
COSTCO HAS 50 signed
copies of Nelson DeMille’s
The Gate House, a late
October release, to give
away. To enter, print
your name, membership
number, address and daytime phone number on a
postcard or letter and send
it to: Nelson DeMille, The
Costco Connection, P.O.
Box 34088, Seattle, WA
98124-1088. Or send an
e-mail to giveaway@costco.
com, with “Nelson DeMille” in the subject line.
No purchase is necessary. Open
to legal residents of the U.S.
(except Puerto Rico) who are age
18 or older at the time of entry
and who are current Costco
members. One entry per house-
hold. Entries must be received
o r postmarked by October 1,
2008. Winners will be rand omly selected and notified
by mail on or before Decem-b er
1, 2008. The value of the
prize is $27.99. Void where
prohibited. Winners are re-sponsiblefor allapplicable
f ederal, state and local
t axes. Odds of winning
d epend on the number
o f eligible entries
r eceived. Employees of Costco
o r Grand Central Publishing and
their families are not eligible.
By J. Rentilly
REAL ESTATE DOESN’T COME more fraught with hair-trigger but debonair Mafia don Frank Bellarosa,
historic, cultural and romantic tension than Long who are destined for an explosive collision.
Island’s legendary Gold Coast, rich with sprawling “These characters are mavericks with attitude,”
estates, billion-dollar fortunes won and lost, and a says Raab. “They may work within the system, but
glittering fog of American dreaminess. It was the they don’t buy into the system and they get results
inspiration for East Egg in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The by doing things their own way. We all love rebels,
Great Gatsby; a gilded playground for flappers, and John Sutter is among the most appealing in
high society, reinvention and ultimate modern literature.”
tragedy; and the scene of the crime, DeMille, a Costco member who
as it were, in Nelson DeMille’s sweep- writes in longhand seven hours every
ing, Gatsby-inspired, 1990 bestselling day, researched The Gold Coast exten-novel The Gold Coast, this month’s sively, “to be as accurate as possible.”
Buyer’s Pick. Frequently, DeMille says, the research
“The history of the Gold Coast guides and inspires the plot. “What gets
and the generations who preceded the me to the desk every day is curiosity.
characters in the book influence how What happens next?” he says. “Truth is
they act, think and who they are,” says stranger than fiction, after all.”
the 65-year-old DeMille, who lives on This fall, DeMille revisits Sutter
Long Island. “We are, after all, the sum and Bellarosa in The Gate House,
total of everything that has come a sequel to The Gold
before us. It’s a rich, rich place in which Coast—“mostly because
to set a story.” Nelson DeMille readers have been asking
SANDY DEMILLE
A sexually charged, darkly funny novel of finan- me for almost 20 years to do it,” he
cial fortunes, emotional bankruptcy, mob bosses says. “Sequels don’t usually work, but
and antiheroes, shot through with a sage look at a as the criminal is compelled to revisit
cultural history that may have taught us nothing, the scene of the crime, creative people
The Gold Coast is a thrilling read. It’s often com- are compelled to revisit a big success .
pared to Gatsby with a dash of The Godfather, and Based on reader response, I decided t o
has sold more than 1. 5 million copies since its pub- go back to these characters.”
lication nearly 20 years ago. DeMille is grateful forTheGoldCoas t” ’ s
“It is a timeless story about love, money, betrayal long and successful life, figuring it will be be
and the battle between good and evil,” says DeMille, the book for which he is remembere d. But he is
who also penned By the Rivers of Babylon, The always at work on the next book. “The goal is always
General’s Daughter (turned into a box office hit, star- to write the two most beautiful words in the English
ring John Travolta), Plum Island and several others. language,” he says. “The End.” C
Jamie Raab, executive vice president and publisher of Grand Central Books, and DeMille’s editor,
adds, “The Gold Coast beautifully captures something essential about America, and what we all
aspire to, be it money, power, stature, respect—even
thy neighbor’s wife. It’s an accomplished, complex
novel with such wicked humor.”
For DeMille, a former U.S. Army lieutenant, the
novel was a change of pace from his blistering adventure stories and espionage thrillers: a more intimate—and simultaneously epic—consideration of
his own upbringing near the fabled neighborhood,
the stories he’d heard and the people he’d witnessed,
and a post-college rereading of Fitzgerald’s classic.
“I like to begin with time and place when I’m
writing, and then I add characters to that world,”
says DeMille. “This is not to say that plot is unimportant, but it needs to be a natural outgrowth of
the locale, the people and the time period.”
And so The Gold Coast, currently in development as a motion picture, introduces readers to the
combustible dyad of John Sutter, a rapscallion and
Wall Street lawyer, ostensibly the good guy, and the
J. Rentilly is a Los Angeles–based journalist who
writes about film, music and literature.
Send your feedback
on this month’s book to:
discussionquestions@
costco.com.
Pennie’s pick
OVER THE YEARS I’ve met many, many authors. One
who sticks out in my mind as being genuinely kind, a
delight to speak with and overall great person is the
author of this month’s Book Buyer’s Pick, Nelson DeMille.
Not only is he a real gentleman, he’s also a great writer.
That combination of talent and charm made selecting his
1990 novel The Gold Coast a no-brainer.
Wall Street lawyer John Sutter is desperately trying
to hold on to an aristocratic legacy when a Mafia don
draws him and his wife into a violent world. If you’re
looking for something with drama, passion, friendship
and big stakes, this is the book for you.
DeMille’s The Gold Coast is available at most
Costco warehouses and on costco.com.
Pennie Clark
Ianniciello
Costco Book Buyer
