The story has a very current feel, set as it is among the technologically savvy Starbucks set, but this original and engrossing novel evokes truly timeless emotions. In the end, he finds in the bitter fragments of the Lamoreaux family story not only a solution to the crime, but his own redemption, as he learns to live and love again. Fanning is a well-drawn character. At first I found him somewhat annoying, just another self-involved yuppie with a pretentious name. As his relationship with Julia developed, however, I saw that his shallowness served to shield a sensitive, complex man from his painful past.
Newcomers are always welcome.
In Ralph's Party , six people living in the same London apartment building are settled into their comfy, routine existences. Pretty and vivacious, Jem has just moved in with best friends Ralph and Smith. While Ralph appears to be a shabby and unmotivated artist, she hopes that suave and attentive Smith just might be the man of her dreams. Little do they know what lust, jealousy, anger, and heartbreak are brewing just beneath the surface. Cheri is having an affair with Karl, a newly successful DJ who is cheating on Siobhan, his girlfriend of 15 years.