Detailed item info | Synopsis | The lives and hearts of Olivia Thatcher, senator's wife, and Peter Haskell, president of a major pharmaceutical empire, become briefly enmeshed when they meet in a Montmarte cafe.
| | Size | | Length: | 269 pages | | Height: | 8.0 in. | | Width: | 5.5 in. | | Thickness: | 1.0 in. | | Weight: | 12.8 oz. |
| | Publisher's Note | As president of a major pharmaceutical empire, Peter Haskell has everything: power, position, a career and a family that mean everything to him and for which he has sacrificed a great deal. Compromise has been key in Peter Haskell's life, and integrity is the base on which he lives. Olivia Thatcher is the wife of a famous senator. She has given to her husband's ambitions and career until her soul is bone-dry. She is trapped in a web of duty and obligation, married to a man she once loved and no longer even knows. When her son died, a piece of Olivia died too. Accidentally, on the night of a bomb threat, they meet in Paris, at the Ritz. Their totally different lives converge for one magical moment in the Place Vendome, as Olivia carefully, silently, steps out of her life and walks away. As the two strangers meet, their lives become briefly enmeshed. In a cafe in Montmartre, their hearts are laid bare. Peter, once so sure of his path, so certain of his marriage and success, is suddenly faced with a professional future in jeopardy. Olivia is no longer sure of anything except that she can't go on anymore. When Olivia disappears, only Peter suspects that it may not be foul play. And after he finds her again, where will they go from there? Five days in Paris is all they have. They go back to their separate lives, but nothing is the same. At home again, they both must pursue their lives despite challenges, compromise, and betrayal. Everything they believe is put on the line, until they each realize they must stand fast against compromise and face life's challenges head-on.
| | Industry reviews | No word yet on the plot of the latest by the predictable but fruitful author of the best-selling Lightning. Look for a mid-November on-sale date.
Adams
The grand, operatic gesture dominates Steel's 36th novel, a tightly crafted, if utterly unsuspenseful, tale that pits honor against ambition in high places. Peter Haskell has it all: a beautiful wife, three great sons, a satisfying job as president of the world's leading pharmaceutical firm and the formula for a new drug, Vicotec, that promises to revolutionize chemotherapy. Awaiting the results of a French specialist's final testing of Vicotec, Peter also has a hotel room at the Ritz in Paris, which puts him in proximity to fellow guest Olivia Thatcher, the wife of a Virginia senator whose eyes are set firmly on the White House. Peter's world begins to spin apart when he learns that Vicotec is not the miracle he hoped for but a potential killer. But of what importance is such a turn of events in the face of l'amour? This is Paris, after all, the perfect setting for Peter to approach Olivia one night; on the steps of Montmartre, the two realize that they are soul mates, and that their marriages are, in fact, empty. All too soon, however, the lovers must return to reality Olivia, to her husband's offer of $1 million a year to stay by his side; Peter, to untold millions if he'll just fib a little bit about those test results; and so both must face their own, ultimate moral test. Steel leaves no clich? unturned in this garden of predictabilities, but the fauna is glitzy Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood make cameo appearances the flora is bright and, in the end, all's well that end's well, which is, after all, the only way her fans would have it. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; simultaneous BDD Audio; British, translation, first serial, electronic, performance rights: Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Nov.)
Bernstein
The grand, operatic gesture dominates Steel's 36th novel, a tightly crafted, if utterly unsuspenseful, tale that pits honor against ambition in high places. Peter Haskell has it all: a beautiful wife, three great sons, a satisfying job as president of the world's leading pharmaceutical firm and the formula for a new drug, Vicotec, that promises to revolutionize chemotherapy. Awaiting the results of a French specialist's final testing of Vicotec, Peter also has a hotel room at the Ritz in Paris, which puts him in proximity to fellow guest Olivia Thatcher, the wife of a Virginia senator whose eyes are set firmly on the White House. Peter's world begins to spin apart when he learns that Vicotec is not the miracle he hoped for but a potential killer. But of what importance is such a turn of events in the face of l'amour? This is Paris, after all, the perfect setting for Peter to approach Olivia one night; on the steps of Montmartre, the two realize that they are soul mates, and that their marriages are, in fact, empty. All too soon, however, the lovers must return to reality Olivia, to her husband's offer of $1 million a year to stay by his side; Peter, to untold millions if he'll just fib a little bit about those test results; and so both must face their own, ultimate moral test. Steel leaves no clich‚ unturned in this garden of predictabilities, but the fauna is glitzy Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood make cameo appearances the flora is bright and, in the end, all's well that end's well, which is, after all, the only way her fans would have it. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; simultaneous BDD Audio; British, translation, first serial, electronic, performance rights: Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Nov.)
(10/16/1995)
The grand, operatic gesture dominates Steel's 36th novel, a tightly crafted, if utterly unsuspenseful, tale that pits honor against ambition in high places. Peter Haskell has it all: a beautiful wife, three great sons, a satisfying job as president of the world's leading pharmaceutical firm and the formula for a new drug, Vicotec, that promises to revolutionize chemotherapy. Awaiting the results of a French specialist's final testing of Vicotec, Peter also has a hotel room at the Ritz in Paris, which puts him in proximity to fellow guest Olivia Thatcher, the wife of a Virginia senator whose eyes are set firmly on the White House. Peter's world begins to spin apart when he learns that Vicotec is not the miracle he hoped for but a potential killer. But of what importance is such a turn of events in the face of l'amour? This is Paris, after all, the perfect setting for Peter to approach Olivia one night; on the steps of Montmartre, the two realize that they are soul mates, and that their marriages are, in fact, empty. All too soon, however, the lovers must return to reality Olivia, to her husband's offer of $1 million a year to stay by his side; Peter, to untold millions if he'll just fib a little bit about those test results; and so both must face their own, ultimate moral test. Steel leaves no clich¿ unturned in this garden of predictabilities, but the fauna is glitzy Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood make cameo appearances the flora is bright and, in the end, all's well that end's well, which is, after all, the only way her fans would have it. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; simultaneous BDD Audio; British, translation, first serial, electronic, performance rights: Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Nov.)
Publishers Weekly (10/16/1995)
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