The Greek Villa [Hardcover]

Judith Gould (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gould, Judith | Publication Date: October 7, 2003

Aspiring author Tracey Sullivan, on the mend from her boyfriend's betrayal and father's suicide, has landed the perfect opportunity: a job as ghostwriter for a fading film star who lives in a magnificent Greek villa. But soon Tracey discovers more than she bargained for, including true love, scandalous secrets, and murder. From the salsa beats of South Beach to the shimmering landscape of the Greek isles, this is Judith Gould's most fabulous escape yet into a breathtaking world of passion and suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A young journalist and aspiring novelist takes a job on the Greek island of Santorini and is plunged into peril and mystery in this contrived but lively romantic drama. Tracey Sullivan, a cub reporter at a Miami television station, lives with her beloved father and is engaged to Fortune 500 scion Brian Rutherford Biggs III. On the very same day that she learns Brian has been two-timing her, she is called to report on a suicide, only to discover on air that the victim is her father ("That... that car they just pulled out of the river... I... I know that car. The driver's name is... The driver's name was... one Thomas Sullivan of Coconut Grove"). In going through her father's belongings, Tracey discovers a photograph of the mother she never knew, who bears a remarkable resemblance to famous actress-turned-writer Urania Vickers. Another implausible coincidence-Urania and Tracey share an agent, the handsome Mark Varney-gets Tracey a gig as Urania's ghostwriter in stunning Santorini. Mark is on the premises, too, to Tracey's delight, but the spoiled, possessive Urania has him firmly in her grasp. Meanwhile, back in Miami, Tracey's friend Maribel investigates Tracey's father's death and Brian's corporate connections, and little by little unravels an elaborate scheme that eventually threatens Tracey's very existence. Elements of the gothic and the supernatural (an amulet, a mysterious tower, eerie cries in the night) crank up the melodrama a few more notches. Gould's loopy plotting is over-the-top, but readers willing to suspend disbelief will get plenty of bang for their buck.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Tracey Sullivan is a hardworking news writer for a minor Miami TV station but has hopes of becoming a published author. She lives with her eccentric father and has a handsome, moneyed fiance, but suddenly her world comes crashing down: her fiance has another girl; publishers reject her novel; she ends up having to report on her father's death; and foreclosure is imminent on her home. Her only luck comes when she is offered a job in Santorini, Greece, as a ghostwriter for a famous B-movie star, Urania Vickers, who may or may not be her real mother. She takes the job to save her house and to find out if this woman is her mother, but while Urania is a B-movie star, she acts like a class-A bitch. Her stern housekeeper is straight out of a gothic novel, and a mysterious locked tower adds to the melodrama. Lots of obstacles stand in Tracey's way and put her in danger in Gould's great escapist read, a tale filled with suspense, steamy sex, glamorous clothing, and exotic characters. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover (October 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451210476
• ISBN-13: 978-0451210470
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,542,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well . . ., October 13, 2003

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Greek Villa (Hardcover)

Tracey Sullivan joins the ranks of millions of other romance heroines in this novel by Judith Gould as she quickly fades out of your memory once you turn the last page of the book. Gould does her best to create a character that is feisty and hard-working while possessing a value system that acceptably gets high grades on most people's morality meter. However, Gould seems obsessed with presenting a "modern heroine" that will appeal to readers that, I suppose, keep scorecards on just how small one's mini-skirt is, how high one's high heels are, how much make-up one applies before being seen by a man, and how many cheap knock-off designer clothing one can palm off as the real deal. Instead of all the fascination with such superficial trappings, Gould should concentrate more on her character development. In the case of Trace, all the spectacular settings, gorgeous clothing and melodramatic events in the world, could not save this character from the boring formulaic image destined for the graveyard of obscurity.

The plot, revolving around Trace's father's supposed suicide and two mysteries, one from the past and one on-going that arise because of it, packs a lot of action for a 340+ page novel. In fact, some of the sideline stories would have been intriguing with a little more development and a lot less mundane detail. In particular, I liked the two fraud investigators, Montague Pleasance and Stanlee Sadwith--in fact, Gould seems to have a flare for presenting the hard-boiled in an appealing light that makes for quick interesting turn-paging reading. This seems to be her real forte. But, unfortunately Montague and Stanlee, are just not in the story enough to make much of an impact on the overall analysis. The other Miami based characters, Mirabel and Ramon are superfluous to the main story line; actually they act as an excuse for Gould to add some hot sexual encounters which after a while get as old and conventional as all the other sex scenes written for this genre.

For me, the main draw of the novel was the exotic setting on Santorini, in the Greek Isles. But, Gould does nothing with this whatsoever; her descriptions could have been copied out of one of the many guidebooks on the subject. The Greeks of the island are described sadly as either crones or nobodies. The personality of such a virile race is give poor treatment by Gould here. I did not feel transported from my lawn chair to either Miami or Greece. More could have been afforded the character of Urania, the primetime TV soap opera queen and the mystery surrounding the distraught occupant of her turret room---the information overload that serves as a denouement at the tale end of the novel could have been made a lot more palatable--I just didn't think the flashback technique worked very well there.

Bottom line: if you like escapist novels with lots of sex, descriptions of clothing and make-up application and are not big on dialogue but strong on action, give "The Greek Villa" a shot. If not and you love books set in Greece, rediscover Mary Stewart's classics written in the late 50s, early 60s for a real treat.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful!, June 2, 2005

By 

Dan's Girl - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greek Villa (Hardcover)

This book is pure tripe. The "love scenes" were so laughingly written that I think my eyes are permanently stuck up in the top of my head from rolling them so much. I had a friend read a paragraph from one of the loves scenes and she literally laughed aloud, it was so ridiculous. The plot was painfully slow to develop and was really barely touched on by the author. It could have been a great book, but the author didn't delve nearly enough into the mystery of the Trace's past or into her former fiance's involvement in her dad's sudden passing. I am all for an easy read, even a smutty romance novel, from time to time, but this book doesn't even rate that high. Avoid this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to get started, March 11, 2005

By 

CSL "CSL" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greek Villa (Hardcover)

This is the first book I've read by this author. Perhaps, its just an OK book out of many this author has written. If you are going to try Judith Gould's books, I wouldn't start with this one.