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The Dead Father's Guide to Sex & Marriage [Paperback]

John Scott Shepherd (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Price: $21.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

July 6, 2004
Joe Way loved his father. He admired, respected, and emulated him. And if the adulterous bastard hadn't dropped dead on the first tee, Joe just might have murdered him.

The son of Cleveland's mayor and an all-American coverboy, Joseph Way Jr. is following his father's footsteps into public service. A hotshot assistant D.A., he's blessed with his father's knee-buckling charm and the love of a whiplash blonde from a respected family.

For Joe Way, life can't get any better. So, it's about to get a whole lot worse.

It starts when Joe finds out upstanding Joseph Sr. has been cheating on Joe's mother for some twenty-five years...and continues the next morning at the country club when Joseph swings his Big Bertha driver right into a haymaker heart attack. Complicating already complicated matters is the brutal death of an alluring young Hispanic girl from the wrong side of town, a girl who may have gotten mixed up with Joseph, his Democratic rival, and the political warfare between them.

The very next night, Joseph himself shows up, rummaging for leftovers in Joe's refrigerator and telling his son "dying is hungry business." Joseph needs his son's forgiveness to find eternal peace, but Joe isn't quite convinced he deserves it.

Just when Joe's head can't spin any faster, enter the political Juliet to his Romeo, stunning liberal mestiza Mara Pinkett. She quickly becomes his nemesis, his confidante, and his greatest temptation.

In just five short days before he's expected to deliver a eulogy for his iconic father, Joe Way must solve the mysteries of a brutal murder, his father's secret life...and his own heart.


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Shepherd's second novel is the tale of a man's disillusionment with his father after his sudden death. Joe Way Jr., an assistant district attorney who is being groomed by his father for Congress, is shocked when he discovers his father in a hotel room with his mistress. The next day Joe wakes to learn that his father died of a heart attack, and he is left to sort out his now-conflicted feelings for the father he once adored. He gets help from an unlikely source: the ghost of his father, who is growing younger every time Joe sees him. As Joe learns some shocking things about his father--he was never in love with Joe's mother; his past was much less privileged than Joe was led to believe--he also wrestles with his own feelings for his fiancee, Beth, a beautiful teacher who is tougher than she seems, and Mara, a liberal muckraker who couldn't be more different from Joe. A whimsical and charming novel. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Author/screenwriter John Scott Shepherd, a native Clevelander and a deeply disturbed Browns fanatic, now lives in Southern California with his wife Susan and children Natalie, Jack, and Cooper.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (July 6, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743466268
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743466264
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,118,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars solid character study, July 30, 2004
This review is from: The Dead Father's Guide to Sex & Marriage (Paperback)
Incumbent Cleveland Mayor Joseph Way Sr. is battling challenger Lester Ratcovic in a dirty campaign. Joseph's son Assistant DA Joe Jr. is a popular local figure for having been a former college football star and being influential in bringing the return of professional football to the city. Sr. constantly reminds the Dog Pound of his son's sports accomplishments.

The Way approach to politics shared by both men is self-righteousness in public, but playing dirty when they can get away with it. The break occurs when teenager Jenni Sanchez tells Jr. that Ratcovic sexually harassed her. Jr. gets her to go public without involving the Ways and sinking the enemy's campaign. Not long afterward, someone beats the girl to death. Joe does not look back with any remorse as she served her purpose until he learns that his role model Sr. has had a longtime affair having caught his dad in the act. The next day Joseph Sr. dies. As he works on the eulogy, Joe Jr. knows the statue has fallen from the pedestal and ponders if ignorance is truly bliss.

John Scoot Shepherd leaves it to the reader to decide how to respond whether to know or not to know is the question. Neither Joe is a likable character; though Jr. undergoes a values cleansing; the audience will want both to receive their comeuppance. Though very philosophical and at times deep, the tale lacks action as the audience follows the mental war going on inside Jr. who if he wants to go from heir apparent to the throne will need to conceal his father's sins.

Harriet Klausner
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
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Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jenni Sanchez, Joseph Way, Mara Pinkett, Ally Wong, Joe Way, Reverend Hal, Jacob Moore, Lester Ratcovic, Benton Heights, Carla Brugano, Glad Acres, Uncle Roy, Mark Stranad, Left Side, Rita Way, Officer Tim, Evers Pinkett, Beth Pruitt, The Independent, The Plan, Jesus Christ, North Hill, Savoy Riverfront Inn, Western Reserve Academy, Callie Burke
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