by Diana Diamond
Beach book of the week
Okay, prepare to groan: "Angela lay beside him, a frost of sweat covering her breasts, her flat stomach heaving with her heavy breath. 'Incredible,' Walter gasped. She smiled. 'You're the one who's incredible.' " Phew. Now that you've got that woeful opening scene out of the way, you can begin to enjoy The Trophy Wife, which goes on to become a gripping page-turner. Walter Childs, a narcissistic banker at the top of his game, is on the verge of dumping his wife, Emily, for Angela Hilliard—a Harvard grad whose rising prospects are rivaled only by her plunging necklines—when Emily is kidnapped. The suspects are numerous, if a tad clichéd. (Is the culprit Emily's tennis coach-cum-gigolo? Walter's rival for the bank presidency? The honest cop who keeps bungling the case? Walter himself?) Yet the pseudonymous Diamond keeps us guessing and switching allegiances—sympathizing with Walter even as we urge Emily to escape and reap revenge—right up to the climactic end. (St. Martin's, $23.95)
Bottom Line: A summer beach-bag stuffer
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