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An Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel
Jesse Kellerman—the international bestselling author of The Executor and The Genius—brings his prodigious talent to bear on a topic he knows well in this hilarious and surprising spin on the modern blockbuster thriller novel. Missing for months after a tragic boating accident, William de Vallée, the superstar thriller writer, is pronounced dead. His oldest friend, Arthur Pfefferkorn, receives the news with an unsettling mix of grief and envy. A middle-aged college professor with long-dead literary aspirations, Pfefferkorn can’t help but feel outshone by his friend’s success—especially since he married the woman Pfefferkorn loved. But now Bill is gone, and Pfefferkorn is there to comfort Carlotta in her time of grief. Reconnecting with de Vallée’s widow makes more than one of his dreams come true . . . until it plunges him into a shadowy world of intrigue and double crosses, where no one can be trusted—and nothing can be taken seriously.
Jesse Kellerman is also the international bestselling author of The Executor, The Genius, Trouble, and Sunstroke. His books and plays have won several awards. He lives in La Jolla, California.
Anonymous
Posted April 16, 2013
First half was good. Mildly funny with strong satire. After that it went to crap. The satire was forced and to be put on so thick it failed. Badly.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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The reader has an inkling of what’s in store from the cover of Jesse Kellerman’s new book, which appears to show a typewriter keyboard of sorts, the various keys or buttons displaying words such as “assassinate,” “coup d’etat,” and “war.”
The first page of the book is filled with what appear to be blurbs by no less eminent writers than Stephen King, Lee Child, Robert Crais and various highly respected reviewers, which on closer inspection are very funny and relate to books written by one William deVallee, “noted author of more than thirty internationally best-selling thrillers” whose protagonist is one Dick Stapp. The protagonist of “Potboiler” is Art Pfefferkorn, who had known deVallee longer than anyone, including his wife [with whom, it should be said, Pfefferkorn had been in love]. The two men, best friends, had thirty years ago both been aspiring writers. While Bill had achieved great fame, Pfefferkorn had only had one book published.
The book takes off in a completely different direction at about one-third of the way through, part satire, part fantasy. Devious, unsettling and frightening things begin to happen. There are several memorable lines regarding writing, e.g., “good novels enlarged on reality while bad novels leaned on it” and “If one could not express something in an original way, one ought not to express it at all,” and points out the “similarities between spying and writing: Both called for stepping into an imagined world and residing there with conviction, nearly to the point of self-delusion. Both were jobs that outsiders thought of as exotic but that were in practice quite tedious.”
A highly original and delightful read, “Potboiler” is recommended.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.colo48
Posted March 10, 2013
Have read other J. Kellerman bookooks with mixed reactions. The final chapter "Deus ex Machina" is extremely apt. (an illogical ending to move the story forward when the writer has "painted himself into a corner" and sees no other way out). After a life of struggling, and trying to achieve some success and happiness, then being manipulated by outrageous events, Art just gives up on life, deciding he has had enough, and has nothing left to live for - betrayed once again by those he believe in. What nonsense. Real letdown. But beautifully written
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 7, 2012
A true disappointment
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 15, 2013
Go to i FUNNY and click reviews you will some thing called "TAP HERE PLAESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
So after that go to Funny Pics
Anonymous
Posted May 15, 2013
Rhfufygf
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 29, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
An Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel
Jesse Kellerman—the international bestselling author of The Executor and The Genius—brings his prodigious talent to bear on a topic he knows well in this hilarious and surprising spin on the modern blockbuster thriller novel. Missing for months after a tragic boating accident, William de Vallée, the superstar thriller writer, is pronounced dead. His oldest friend, Arthur Pfefferkorn, receives the news with an unsettling mix of ...