Guilty Pleasures [Paperback]

Lawrence Sanders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Only Lawrence Sanders could have created this saga of a family that breaks all the rules--both God's and man's. Moving from the seventies to the nineties, Guilty Pleasures invites readers into the affluent arena of shocking acts and stunning revelations that is the South Florida world of the Folsby clan. Emmet Richard Folsby: Founder of a mighty publishing empire, a patriarch to be admired--with one unspeakable exception Constance Louise Folsby: Emmet's wife and cofounder of the empire, now an invalid dying by degrees--resolutely blind to the moral missteps of those she cares for Barbara Ann Folsby: The wildcat daughter--a fiercely ambitious businesswoman--inexorably lured to love at its most forbidden Brett Sherwood Folsby: The dashing playboy son, his sister's most bitter antagonist--and a man with sexual secrets of his own Through two decades, the Folsbys embrace their checkered destinies as Barbara and Brett battle for future control of the empire--never guessing that a trusted family friend with a hidden agenda is quietly manipulating them all. Lawrence Sanders's Guilty Pleasures flawlessly blends suspense and scandal to create a unique reading experience that jolts even as it fascinates.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lawrence Sanders, one of America's most popular novelists, was the author of more than thirty-five bestsellers, including the original McNally novels. Vincent Lardo is the author of The Hampton Affair and The Hampton Connection, as well as five McNally novels. He lives on the East End of Long Island. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425166392
• ISBN-13: 978-0425166390
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sibling Rivalry At Its Best, August 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Guitly Pleasures (Audio Cassette)

Family secrets, thats what it is all about, after all wasnt the entire USA captivated by the Bill and Monica saga, most were. Lets face it folks, if you like hearing about other peoples trash (and most do, Bill and Monica were a prime example) then this is a book for you.

Emmet Folsby founder, owner and CEO of Folsby publishing and Barbara have been having an affair for awhile. OK, so other men have had an affair, but not with their daughter. A bisexual son who marries in an attempt to get ahead in his fathers company and better his chance for inheriting the entire thing when his fathers time comes. Barbara sees right through this scheme and decides she must come up with one of her own. What these two wont do in an effort to get ahead. Both are obsessed with money and power and of course sex.

I chose this as an audio book and was not disappointed. Granted, it wasnt what I thought it was going to be, not my usual genre; however, one doesnt become more literate by confining oneself to a particular genre or author.

What I liked about this book, was the style of Mr. Sanders. He made the characters seem extremely colorful and with the help of Mr. Gaines (narrator) they were presented in a manner that really made you understand them.

I chose the abridged version of this audio book. Now, I wish I had selected the unabridged. It was obvious that many parts were omitted which were relevant to the story line. You could easily pick out where areas had been left out and you could tell that they were rather large areas.

In addition to the missing segments, there were no real breaks indicating the end of chapters or subchapters. Everything ran together and it was easy to get confused as to what was going on.

This was the first book by Mr. Sanders that I have ever had the opportunity to experience. I found it to be somewhat simplistic but gripping and at times even humorous. It was fun to see what the other would do next or what would happen to them. The book had a rather surprising ending but I wont give that away here.

As I said, this was my first Lawrence Sanders book and being one who doesnt normally read this genre, it would be unfair of me to attempt a comparison to other authors in this arena.

If you havent read anything by Lawrence Sanders dont hesitate to try. However, go with the unabridged version. Personally, I think this book had the potential for a higher rating had I listened to the unabridged version.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars PROBABLY THE WORSE BIT OF FICTION I EVER READ. I mean this one is beyond horrible., November 14, 2009

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guilty Pleasures (Paperback)

Seldom do I find a book which is absolutely devoid of any redeeming features. I can normally find something to like in just about anything I read. Well folks, this one fell right into the "seldom" section of my reading agenda. I was unable to find one reason to recommend this work to any individual I know.

Now do not take me wrong. I am no stranger to bad writing, sex, violence, poor plots, and general other disgusting material, but I have to admit I met my match here. I can also assure you that I am no prude..no, no, no..far from it, but I cannot even be sure if I could describe the story line the author attempts.

I think this is about a rather decadent family of rich people who are in the publishing industry and the wife of our protagonist is dying. The couple's children are very, very sick little puppies and the book is so disjointed and out of sync that even if I wanted to throw in a few spoilers, I would have difficulty doing so.

I suppose (trying to be Polly Anna here) that if you are into gratuitous incest, gratuitous bisexual acts, gratuitous interracial rutting...yes folks, I said rutting, which is a lot different that a nicely done sex scene. I could not show you one example in this book were any of the many sexual acts had anything at tall to do with the story...unless of course this author meant this to be one of those anthologies that were so popular back in the 70s which offered one strange bit of sexual activity after another with absolutely no cohesiveness attempted what so ever. At least with those old books you knew what you were getting when you bought them. I would quote some of the sex scenes here but I am pretty sure they would not get by the Amazon censors and I am also afraid that they are so poorly done that you would start giggling and not be able to finish this review.

I absolutely despise the term "character development" and seldom if ever use it in my reviews as I feel that it is a catchall term and much in this area lies in the eye of the beholder; or reader, if you will. But in this case I am forced to use it simply because it is absolutely and completely absent in this work and I know of no other way to say it. This entire work seems to be a series of cardboard figures onto which the author has hung a bunch of silly and downright disgusting sexual acts on and has done so to shock and make a few bucks. I must say that the dialong in this one is horrid too. It read like a Jr. High student was trying to sound adultish.

Now I understand that this work was published after the author's death. I strongly suspect that a bunch of greedy relatives or publishers took a few notes from the deceased author's desk and said "hey, let's try to squeeze a few more bucks out of this money sponge." How sad. Were I this author I would be quite displeased to have my name on the thing; even if I were dead.

If you have someone you really, really dislike I would suggest this work for their next present. Although you will have to use some other copy than the one I have here as mine now resides under a very wet clay pot full of geraniums to help save my wife's shelf top. I fear the book is no longer readable...which is probably best. I am truly embarrassed for the author.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A limp handshake!, October 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guilty Pleasures (Paperback)

The book never developed into - anything. It's like a Seinfeld episode...only without the humor.