Derailed

A prison English teacher finds an anonymous paper in a pile of essays. It's the story of a man whose life changes dramatically when he takes a late train and meets a beautiful woman. A rendezvous with her ends in disaster when an attacker interrupts them at a New York hotel. The story is the teacher's own, full of painful memories of a life lost. Gregory Harrison makes this unlikely, and at times too graphic, tale of betrayal and deception seem personal and compelling. As Schine's life falls apart and is slowly rebuilt, Harrison projects a desperate, sympathetic character even as he guides listeners toward a violent confrontation that shows the depths of Schine's journey into nightmare. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 16, 2002
There's an extraordinary amount of hype attached to this thriller, from a rave letter in the galley by Warner head Laurence J. Kirshbaum to an announced ad/ promo campaign of $500,000 and enthusiastic blurbs from Christopher Reich and, notably, James Patterson. The buzz is warranted: this story of a middle-class professional whose life goes incredibly, criminally awry is one of the most exciting thrillers in years. And why is a blurb from James Patterson notable? Because Siegel (Epitaph) seems to have learned at his feet. Like Patterson, Siegel is an ad man (a creative director at BBDO; and he, like Patterson, has created TV spots for his book) who mixes first- and third-person narration and knows how to reduce a thriller to its essence. Protagonist Charles Schine is also a Manhattan ad man, married, with a diabetic teen daughter; troubles at home and at work lead him to fall in lust with a sexy younger woman he meets on his commuter train, and finally to a hotel assignation that goes terribly wrong when an armed man bursts in, beats Charles and rapes his date, then blackmails Charles for a staggering amount of money. Charles tries to fight the blackmail by hiring muscle, a disastrous move that gets him into potentially dire legal trouble, as does his agreeing to participate in a company scam in a desperate bid to make back some of the blackmail money—and all that just takes readers into the middle of this terrific yarn, which will blindside them again and again with shocking but plausible twists. With its clean prose, high-velocity plotting and just the right amount of emotional shading darkening its sharply drawn characters, this novel is the bomb. (Feb. 19)Forecast:It's extremely tough for any author to crack bestseller lists for the first time, but with the Warner marketing machine plus the hot word-of-mouth this novel will generate, Siegel is a good bet to do it with this title.

Advertising executive Charles Schine is loving, sentimental, funny, vulnerable, and guilt-ridden. His life derails when he has an affair, which leads to his being beaten (and his girlfriend raped before his eyes), which leads to his being blackmailed, which leads to his stealing from his daughter's trust fund and his own company, which leads.... Ah, but the plot twists and the worm turns. Schine tells his own hair-raising story in admirably lean prose, devoid of the usual descriptive filler modern authors use to pad their fiction to book length. Paul Boehmer is well cast, sounding like an urban, middle-aged male. While he is expressive and easy on the ear, he occasionally "nods," giving full emotional value here, skipping it there. Further, this reviewer found himself hating Schine for his moral turpitude, his incessant whining over his own deficiencies, and, especially, his stupidity. He doesn't deserve the improbable happy ending. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2002
Ad executive Charles Schine's descent into a nightmarish world of ex-cons, scam artists, and thugs couldn't have begun more idyllically. A brief encounter on a commuter train with a seductive woman named Lucinda Harris leads to an afternoon tryst in a shabby Manhattan hotel. But just as the two lovers are about to leave, a man named Vasquez bursts into the room, beats up Charles, repeatedly rapes Lucinda, and robs them both. Unable to go to the police, since both are married, they find themselves vulnerable to blackmail. Soon, Charles is forced to risk his job, his marriage, and the health of his diabetic daughter in a battle of wits with a man who seems always one step ahead of him. Written with psychological insight and exceptional skill by an author whose debut (Epitaph) was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First Novel, this is a riveting story in which the prose glides as effortlessly as Charles's descent into hell. The immensely satisfying plot is marked by multidimensional characters, a highly original structure, an ever more gripping duel, and authentic details that range from prison life to a diabetic's struggle for survival. Expect demand, as the publisher has planned a half-million-dollar advertising campaign. Enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/02.]-Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2002
The wages of sin seem to include people coming after you with knives ("Fatal Attraction"), snow globes ("Adultery"), and, now, with Siegel's pulp-fiction cautionary tale, guns and blackmail. An ad executive boards the morning commuter train, filled with uneasy thoughts of his ailing daughter. His thoughts and, later, his life, get derailed by the presence of an alluring woman across from him with whom (after she pays his fare, a gratuity for which he will pay dearly) he strikes up a flirtation. Flirting leads inevitably, in Siegel's heavily overlaid prose, to an assignation in a seedy hotel. A man bursts into the room, pistol-whips the ad executive, and rapes the woman. From there, the beating descends to blackmail and the ad exec's plotted revenge. All of this is delivered in one-note, depressive style, with the writing veering from bland tough guy to poor man's poetic, as in "Lucinda was dressed for success--if success was making Charles's eyes water with adoration and arousal." Siegel's over-the-top tone and the flatness of his characters detract from the improbable yet intriguing plot. His first novel, "Epitaph "[BKL My 1 01],"" was nominated for a Shamus Award. His second should draw heavy reader demand. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)