To Die in Provence [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Norman Bogner (Author), William Roberts (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999

Norman Bogner's novels have sold eleven million copies in the U.S. and eighteen million copies worldwide. For the last fifteen years Bogner has worked in Hollywood, but To Die in Provence marks his triumphant return to novel writing.Jennifer Bowen, a young professor of art history, is thrilled to have been hired by Adam Gold, one of the most successful TV producers in America, to keep an eye on his spoiled nineteen-year-old daughter, Maddie, while she studies French in Aix-en-Provence. And Jennifer's glad to get Maddie away from the influence of Boy, Maddie's boyfriend and ex-con.But Jennifer never imagines the lengths Maddie will go to get what she wants. And what she wants is Boy.Boy is also in Provence, and he weaves the willing Maddie into a depraved erotic web of murder and destruction as he seizes his chance to get closer to his beautiful heiress.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Norman Bogner's first thriller in 15 years is the grisly, noir side of Peter Mayle's sweet books about Provence (A Year in Provence, Chasing Cezanne, Hotel Pastis). Bogner offers a spooky evocation of the horror that can live alongside all that great food and scenery. We first find top copper Michel Danton recovering from shotgun wounds while working in his father's restaurant in Aix, where "fresh strings of Arles sausage and legs of jambon de Bayonne slyly waltzed on their hooks in the window." Michel's father is a tyrant, and his latest lady friend has just dumped him, so he's ready for a new case. Enter Darrell Vernon Boynton, a charming young psychopath called Boy by the women he conquers and the wealthy tourists he murders. Boy is a true descendant of Hannibal Lecter, and the only reason he hasn't eaten any of his victims is that the other food in Provence is too tempting. But be warned: not many other atrocities are beyond his imagination. As Bogner has proven in such previous blockbusters as Seventh Avenue and California Dreamers, he has the imagination to create nightmare landscapes in all manner of settings--and the writing skills to quickly make us a part of them. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Commander Michel Danton, descendant of bickering restaurateurs and the detective-hero of Seventh Avenue author Bogner's welcome return to fiction after a long hiatus, resides in a Provence that Peter Mayle would have trouble recognizing. Amid the well-documented bucolic splendor and pastis, there are laptops and lattes as well as a serial killer on the loose. It falls to Danton?newly broken up with his crime reporter girlfriend and under departmental suspension?to nose out the killer, who has just murdered two Americans in particularly grisly fashion. The villain is identified early to the reader as Boy, a native Oklahoman and former child porn star who's left a trail of misery wherever he's lived. Helping the forces of evil is Boy's girlfriend, dumb, vulnerable Maddie Gold, daughter of an entertainment mogul. Among the novel's standout strengths are a richly detailed setting, psychologically accurate character portrayals and an attractive and engaging hero?and there's enough stomach-churning carnage to satisfy even the most sanguinary tastes. True, whenever Maddie talks, Yogi Berra might advise readers to put blinders on their ears, but the other female?Danton's hot-tempered American love interest?makes up for it. Agent, Susan Crawford; editor, Natalia Aponte. (Sept.) FYI: Before he turned his hand to writing fiction, in the 1960s, Bogner was editorial manager at Jonathan Cape.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: John Curley & Assoc; Unabridged edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792722949
• ISBN-13: 978-0792722946
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.5 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,180,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! SENSATIONAL SOJOURN IN PROVENCE!, January 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: To Die in Provence (Mass Market Paperback)

this is a phenomenal thriller! incredible characters......gorgeous locale....intelligent writing.... fantastic plot and the ultimate sociopath! PLEASE DISREGARD previous review as she obviously hasn't read this book! mr. bogner gives us the benefit of his years in provence and we graciously thank him for it....you can smell the delicious aromas of provence through these pages....i devoured this book and am thrilled to know that a sequel is in the works! i must end this with....please write faster, mr. bogner....we need more of these evil adventures in provence!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HANNIBAL LECTER'S SON VACATIONING IN PROVENCE?, October 8, 1999

By 

"gsf918" - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Die in Provence (Mass Market Paperback)

yes, the character of BOY would certainly make dr. lecter most proud!!! just about the perfect sociopath ever and wow!! what a setting......provence! bogner captured the true essence and flavors of this marvelous area perfectly and added dashes of such amazing characters....this would make an awesome tv mini-series...many juicy roles and colorful locales....I LOVED IT!!! cannot wait to read a sequel with the incredible local cop!!! will there be one soooooon???????

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disgusted and disappointed, June 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Die in Provence (Hardcover)

I started this book because the inside cover sounded interesting. After I started reading To Die in Provence I soon became horrified. I thought that several of the scenes were unnecessary and crude. Did the author really need to explain in graphic detail how Boy and Maddie went about killing Louise? I thought the last few chapters of the book were great. The ending left me feeling very satisfied and the book had a suspensful atmosphere to it that kept me reading even if I found some of the scenes offensive. Over all I think this book was for the type of reader who enjoys reading horror/thriller novels. This book is not a mild murder mystery for the inquisitive reader.