The Namedropper
Brian FreemantleThe new thriller from the master storyteller - Harvey Jordan is The Namedropper, a multi-millionaire who steals other people's identities to strip them of their assets. Following an ill-judged affair, Jordan finds himself cited in a divorce action by one Alfred Appleton, as well as being sued for criminal conversation a multi-million dollar marriage-wrecking damages claim. So Jordan plans his own type of revenge the identity-stealing kind and in so doing discovers the murky depths of Appletons past . . .
From BooklistLondoner Harvey Jordan is a con artist who steals other people's identities and money. His occupation yields an income healthy enough to afford holidays on the Riviera, where he meets Alyce Appleton, the soon to be ex-wife of Alfred Appleton, a powerful Wall Street commodities broker. Harvey and Alyce have a brief fling and part amicably. So Harvey is doubly shocked, first, when he's named corespondent in Alyce's divorce case, and second, when he realizes he's in love with her. As the divorce case plays out in the courtroom, Harvey faces the prospect of being wiped out financially, prompting him to plan the biggest scam of his life. Despite an overabundance of courtroom scenes, and despite the fact that Harvey is as irritating as he is sympathetic, there remains plenty to like about this book, not least of which is the way Freemantle sets the narrative hook in his readers' jaws and keeps us dangling there, waiting in spite of ourselves to see how it ends. Emily Melton
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“[Freemantle] hauls you aboard and won’t let you off until the roller coaster stops.” *—Los Angeles Times
“Freemantle sets the narrative hook in his readers' jaws and keeps us dangling there, waiting in spite of ourselves to see how it ends.” —Booklist*
“A master storyteller.” —Publishers Weekly