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Exit Strategies: A Novel [Hardcover]

Catherine Todd (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 8, 2002

Becky Weston might be brave, funny, and smart, but she's scarcely living the life of her dreams. A single mother, she's put herself through six years of night law school after her divorce. She has a headstrong teenage daughter and an eccentric elderly mother who demand what's left of her time. Long gone are the predivorce trappings of affluence -- the Spanish-style house with a view of the Pacific, the Volvo in the garage; now she can barely make the payments on her tiny house in the upscale Southern California community of La Jolla. And what's a first wife to do when her ex-husband dies and leaves his younger, sexier, and greedier second wife wielding the purse strings on all of his assets? There's no time even to think about looking for a relationship, and as the oldest new associate in the aspiring law firm where Becky started out as the receptionist, she's expected to devote the second half of her now manless life to nothing but work.

When glamorous anti-aging guru Bobbie Crystol, the author of a bestselling book about life extension, strides into the firm and offers Becky the chance to represent her interests on the West Coast, the offer seems too good to be true. No matter that Dr. Crystol -- who brandishes designer outfits and earrings like Christmas ornaments on steroids -- turns out to be Becky's archnemesis from college. The firm needs the business and Becky needs the client. But when some of the doctor's patients leave the life-extension spa sicker than when they entered, Becky begins to have doubts about the frantic pursuit of longevity at the expense of living well.

Trying to hang on to both her legal career and her integrity, Becky not only learns to let go of bad choices but also devises a foolproof exit strategy, a strategy that proves to have unexpected dividends....


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

More soap opera than suspense, this hardcover debut from Todd (Making Waves; Staying Cool) introduces Becky Weston Pratt, a woman swimming upstream with her adolescent daughter, college student son and ailing mother in tow and with sharks nipping at her from every side. Todd has given her heroine all kinds of obstacles to overcome: her ex-husband has died and left his spiteful new wife in charge of the kids' trust fund; Becky has risen from the position of receptionist to become a first-year associate at a law firm, though the partners still treat her more like a gofer than a fellow lawyer. Even her big break a hugely successful anti-aging guru chooses Becky to represent her comes with baggage, beginning with the fact that they were less than friendly in college. And Becky's mother is having behavioral and medical problems that tax both her pocketbook and her patience. Between domestic crises and professional demands, Becky hardly has time to do more than dream about a personal life. A lot of possible shenanigans further distract her abuse of the trust fund, lawyerly backstabbing, the questionable medical ethics of her new client. Todd infuses Becky's determination to overcome all these difficulties with a self-deprecating humor and plenty of mordant observations on the foibles of her social and professional "betters." Todd's characters have little depth, but they glitter quite nicely as she sets them spinning and makes Becky navigate through them to a safe harbor. Agent, Denise Marcil.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

As a brand new attorney, fortysomething Becky Weston is having a hard time earning the respect of her colleagues. But all that changes when a college acquaintance--not quite an enemy but never a friend--hires Becky as lead counsel. The client, Dr. Bobbie Crystol, is the proprietor of a thriving but dubious corporation whose mission is to promise longevity to the aging masses through positive attitudes and lots of questionable "herbal" remedies. Becky's senior partner is thrilled that the novice attorney has reeled in such a big fish, and between supporting two growing children, caring for an aging mother, and battling her ex-husband's widow over her children's rightful inheritance, Becky is in no position to refuse the work. As she tries to understand why Bobbie came to her, Becky uncovers disquieting truths both about her firm's partners and about Bobbie's business. But she also uncovers some truths of her own, which she had buried beneath her quest to have it all. A nice mix of legal thriller and coming-of-middle-age drama. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (January 8, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060953489
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060953485
  • Product Dimensions: 14.4 x 9.5 x 3.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,827,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Jane Heller, you'll love this!, April 30, 2002
By 
Ellen b (Long Island United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Exit Strategies: A Novel (Hardcover)
Written in the same vain as Jane Heller, this novel portrays a middle-aged single mom, stuck in what we call the "sandwich generation." Alternately worried about her kids and her elderly mom, while trying to juggle a career as a newly-graduated corporate attorney, this novel is realistic in showing her struggles, but always with a keen sense of humor. Just enough love interest and intrigue to keep you going. A perfect novel, and I'll look for more of Catherine Todd's books.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars West Coast Merry-Go-Round, February 8, 2002
This review is from: Exit Strategies: A Novel (Hardcover)
2-8-02

Keeping yoyr options open while living a laid back, but fast-paced life is the epitome of what we think of as the California style. "Exit Strategies" by Catherine Todd, who lives in San Diego, knows the territory.
Our heroine, Becky Weston, a single mother, has put herself through law school and moved from receptionist to associate in a small, but prestigious law firm in upscale La Jolla. In the first paragraph, the head of the firm is described as "Armani Adonis" so with this snappy economy of language we know that he cuts an attractive figure and that Becky has a bit of crush on him.
It is this well-crafted use of description and dialogue that gives all of the characters dimension so that the reader is interested in their daily trials and tribulations and how they react with one another. When Becky's ex dies unexpectedly, leaving his second wife as trustee, life becomes much more complicated.
The frantic pursuit of youthfulness and the medical machinations that take advantage of the gullible is one thread; having a shrink, and money hiding in offshore bank accounts are others. How Becky keeps all her balloons in the air without a misstep keeps the pages turning to the amusement and enjoyment of the reader. The book is a well-crafted, light-hearted, sophisticated romp along our Pacific rim.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Enjoyable!, January 25, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Exit Strategies: A Novel (Hardcover)
Cathy Todd is a wonderful modern author. Like her previous books, Making Waves and Staying Cool, Exit Strategies gets to the heart of women's feelings but does it through an exciting, amusing story. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book!
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First Sentence:
THE MEETING HAD STARTED WITHOUT ME. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
offshore investments
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Bobbie Crystol, Taylor Anderson, Crystol Enterprises, Jason Krill, Medallion Foundation, San Diego, Dorothy Beekman, Rule Against Perpetuities, Melissa Peters, Cayman Islands, Barbara Collins, Jamison Roth, Mark Lawrence, Social Security, United States, Clarissa Harlowe, Uncle Harry, Convention Center, New York, Newport Beach, Pendleton Silverbridge, Dottie Beekman, Ryan James, San Antonio, Southern California
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