House of Lords

May 27, 2002
An overstuffed thriller that groans "film version" on every page, this is a plodding story of corruption, greed, family disintegration and the Mob. Jeffrey Blaine is an investment banker who's so absurdly successful he can rent out New York's most exclusive restaurant for his spoiled daughter Jessica's 18th birthday party. That Jessica and her friends have also invited a bunch of Sopranos-type thugs does not go unnoticed by Sharon Lamm, a Wall Street reporter sulking over her boring party assignment; by Schliester and Gogarty, organized crime investigators working for the U.S. Attorney's office; or by an aggressive AG wannabe named Elaine Lester. The date rape of a society girl at the party by one of the young thugs brings in Chet Fiore, heir to the organization of Gaetano Falcone and a mobster with a mission, who "handles" the situation. Fiore exploits this opportunity to get his hooks into Jeffrey, intending to use him to launch a massive, unprecedented money-laundering operation. There follow roughly 400 pages of tit-for-tat maneuvers—political, economic, sexual—among various members of the bloated cast, which comprises mainly familiar faces, from Mafiosos to flashy investors and a bitchy gossip columnist. Rosenberg, a screenwriter and novelist whose solo credits include Contract on Cherry Street
and who has written with Robert Tanenbaum, is aiming for a chess match between the gangster and the banker, the outcome of which is visible long before the end. Agent, Nick Ellison. 4-city author tour.