The Real Justine

by Stephen Amidon

Overview

The beautiful younger woman who appeared so unexpectedly, so gloriously, in Michael Coolidge’s life one night—a seemingly chance pick-up at a quiet neighborhood bar—vanished just as suddenly a few days later, into thin air it seemed, leaving him dazed and bewildered. Months later he chances upon Justine on a village street, locked in a violent quarrel with a scary looking brute—a day later, that man is found dead in a seedy motel and Justine has disappeared again, leaving behind only a hasty plea for help. Michael’s efforts to locate her, or to find out something more about her elusive past, yield only further mystery, a confusing web of lies, manipulations and false leads. Who is the real Justine? Downtown art world sophisticate, or small town innocent? Victim or predator? Someone he can trust, or someone he should actually fear?Stephen Amidon’s spellbinding psychological thriller, The Real Justine, confounds the reader at every turn, constantly causing us to revise our assumptions. It’s a fascinating study in character and a relentless, ingeniously head-spinning story—all deliciously unresolved until the very last page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605988665
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	09/15/2015
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	374 KB

About the Author

Stephen Amidon is the author of ten books, including the novel Human Capital, which was recently made into an award-winning Italian film. He recently lived in London, where he worked as a film critic, and now lives in Boston with his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

A gripping seventh novel from the talented Mosby whose reputation has been growing steadily. Neat story-telling coupled with Mosby’s sure touch for characters that demand our sympathy, help make this one of the those crime novels that linger in the mind long after the final page.

The Daily Mail (UK)

A splendid novel with the satiric bite of The Bonfire of the Vanities and perhaps the most inexorable plot since House of Sand and Fog.

The Seattle Times

The haunted search for a missing, mysterious lover is a well-worn trope in thrillers, but to Amidon’s credit, he sustains what actors call ‘the illusion of the first time’—the impression that you’re saying for the first time a line you’ve said a hundred times. Many readers will find it refreshing that the novel’s pace and suspense result not so much from physical violence, but from these well-drawn characters’ uncertain feelings and motives.

The Washington Post

Gripping. Stephen Amidon is the rare writer who can illuminate the secrets of money and love with equal authority.

Tom Perrotta

Amidon proves himself a nimble storyteller. We finish this novel not only with an appreciation of his skill at orchestrating suspense but also with a keen understanding of the emotional consequences of his characters’ decisions.

Michiko Kakutani - The New York Times

From its very beginning, Human Capital seizes us and plunges us into the grand delirium of reading about characters whose fates we eagerly, agonizingly follow to the last, lovely page.

Scott Spencer

Reality simmers and blurs before becoming sharply clarified on the last page of this compelling novel. Amidon (Human Capital, 2004) builds suspense relentlessly to a climax that’s not easily forgotten in this masterful exploration of discerning the truth. 

Booklist (starred review)

Amidon nails it. Human Capital is terrific.”

Jonathan Yardley - The Washington Post

2015-07-01
A few nights of passion ignite a man's obsession for a mysterious woman in this tale of uncertain identities. Recently fired from his longtime job at a prestigious left-wing charity for playing Robin Hood with funds that didn't belong to him, Michael Coolidge is slowly sinking into the depths of depression. His wife has left him, taking their teenage son, and now Michael spends his days drinking and moping around the sleepy upstate New York town of Annville. Things start looking up the night he meets the beautiful Justine in a bar. The two start talking—she tells him she's part of the New York City art gallery scene in town on behalf of a rich client; then one thing leads to another, and Michael finds himself blissfully ensconced in a "staycation" with the sultry Justine. She speaks solely in generalities he finds sexy and the reader finds annoying and also immediately suspicious—only Michael is surprised when she disappears after four days, leaving behind an incomplete phone number and no last name. Nine months later, he sees her again in the company of a man, photographer Desmond Tracey, who soon turns up dead of a suspected drug overdose. Michael, determined to rescue his damsel in distress, digs into the photographer's past and, making multiple improbable leaps of logic, pieces together a traumatic history for Justine—obviously not her real name—that's entwined with the power players of Annville. While there are a few genuine surprises along the way, most of Amidon's (Security, 2009, etc.) twists are telegraphed so far in advance that it's a wonder the characters don't see them coming.

Kirkus Reviews