Customer Reviews

Big Killing

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Anette Meyers' description of characters is so colorful and complete that you can actually see the characters. She has an uncanny way of describing each situation and feelings that she makes you feel as though it were happening to you. "The Big Killing" is a story about the stock market, stock brokers, head hunters and murder. The twist and turns in the plot makes it difficult to put the book down. It's a story about strong willed women in a man's world. It makes you want to be like them when you grow up, even if you're over ninety. For the mystery lover, this is a must.

Thanks to the success of her newest series, featuring Olivia Brown (Free Love, Murder Me Now), the publishing world has rediscovered Annette Meyers and is reissuing her classing Wall St. series - the "Smith & Wetzon" books.

The Big Killing, the first in this series, and arguably the best, was first printed in 1989 and led the way for a view into the fast-paced, self indulgent world of wall street traders and the executives who "headhunt" them for New York firms. Meyers inserts her personal knowledge of Wall St. and couples it with her fascination and experience in musical theatre. Both Wall St. and Broadway are caricature settings for excessive behaviors, and you will find a lot of caricature characters in Meyers' series. Leading the way is Xenia Smith (a quote: "It's about money, it's always about money"), partner in executive search with Leslie Wetzon, a former Broadway dancer. Smith is amusing and always entertaining, with her series of rich paramours and her need to stick her nose into everyone's business, especially Wetzon's.

More finely drawn are the characters of Wetzon, Silvestri (think George Clooney in need of a shave) and Carlos Prince, who can literally jump off the pages of these books. New York city sights also play a starring role, and Meyers delights in refamiliarizing those of us no longer in the city with descriptions of local landmarks that make the books come alive. My favorite? Steven Sondheim's residence, at which Wetzon always pays homage by the tip of a beret.

The Big Killing starts off with a "bang", as Barry Stark, eager to jump to another firm, gets killed at the site of a clandestine meeting with Wetzon. Shocked by the incident, Wetzon gets drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery, which stays a mystery until the final pages of the novel. Readers will be moved by the need and the caring that is generated by the Wetzon-Silvestri relationship, no matter how many times Wetzon gets involved with another man.

Read the Big Killing, and then enjoy the rest of the series (starting with "Tender Death") as they are released again for new fans of this interesting author. Enjoy!

Good characters, vivid Wall St./New York backdrop. Heroine quite naive in reading people, not picking up on clues, to be a brilliant connector oe people and positions. Perhaps better for those knowledgeable about financial workings.