The Hampton Affair [Hardcover]

Vincent Lardo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 1999

The Philistines on both sides of the hedgerow come face to face in an irresistible tale of money and murder set in the Hamptons.

Like Caesar's Gaul, East Hampton is divided into three parts: south of the highway (oceanside), home of the landed gentry, the rich, and the famous; north of the highway, home of the longtime, year-round locals; and in between, where resides--who else?--the middle class. In The Hampton Affair, Vincent Lardo's smashing debut novel, these three worlds collide in a power struggle over land, family secrets, and the almighty dollar.

The Hampton Affair is told in three voices: by Michael Anthony Reo, very south of the highway, thanks to the age-old skill of marrying well; Galen Miller, very north of the highway, a descendant of original East End farmers; and detective Eddy Evans, very much in the middle, both literally and figuratively. Michael is desperately trying to save his marriage, which is tied to his wife's fortune. Galen is desperately trying to save his stake in the family farm, suddenly worth a million bucks, from the clutches of his conniving stepmother (who also happens to be his mistress). And in this version of North and South, Eddy has to solve the mystery of who did what to whom--and why--while trying to win the affections of the one young lady in town who seems to have all the answers. Only she's not talking.

Set in the Hamptons, playground of the rich, famous, and infamous, with a cast of charmingly devious and double-dealing characters, and a plot that pits the poor against the posh, The Hampton Affair is a bracing martini of a thriller.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the words "Hampton" and "affair" are used together, readers can expect a tale involving money, greed, deceit and murder. Lardo's steamy first novel opens with a seemingly idyllic scene: two lovers, a teenage boy and a 40-something woman, are sunbathing by a deserted lake. They enjoy a playful ride in a dilapidated rowboatAuntil the boy rocks the boat so much that it capsizes. He surfaces, she does not. He sinks the boat and disappears. Michael Anthony Reo, a dapper man whose marriage into one of East Hampton's wealthiest families is floundering, witnesses the murder, but decides not to tell anybody for fear his name will be smeared all over the tabloids. Dutiful, middle-class police detective Eddy Evans is put on the case, but it's clear to the reader that the murderer is a devastatingly handsome East Hampton farm boy named Galen Miller. Harboring dreams of Hollywood stardom, Galen will do anythingAincluding hustling his natural endowments at beach volleyball courtsAto escape his life of poverty and the influence of his drunken father. Using alternating points of view, Lardo cleverly intertwines the disparate lives of his three protagonists, while rarely bringing them face to face. Sidestepping the whodunit route, he creates suspense by slowly revealing how Galen came to drown his older lover and by making the reader wonder whether he'll get away with it. Despite occasional bouts of melodrama, the novel is entertaining and, not surprisingly, makes good beach reading.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Lardo makes an impressive debut in this mystery set in the Hamptons. We quickly learn that the Long Island communities that make up the Hamptons are not the exclusive province of the privileged. A highway is the demarcation point: the rich live south of the road, the working class north, and the middle class in the middle. Lardo uses one representative from each locale to take turns narrating the action. Michael Reo, who married very well, begins the tale by witnessing a murder. Next up is the murderer, a well-endowed (physically if not financially) young man who believes, rightly, that his new stepmother is going to cheat him out of his share in a business deal. It is up to Eddy Evans, a police detective, to put all the pieces together. The Hamptons figure prominently in the tale--a major character, in effect--and Lardo convincingly shows the glittery setting's noir side. A fine mix of crime, character, and setting. Ilene Cooper

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First edition. 1999 First edition. edition (May 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399144765
• ISBN-13: 978-0399144769
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bang-up in The Hamptons, November 22, 1999

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Hampton Affair (Hardcover)

THE HAMPTON AFFAIR is a tightly crafted and quickly paced murder story which holds its suspense to--and even past--its last page. Told from the points of view of three characters, author Vincent Lardo describes the rhythms of East Hampton, the town in which he and I both live. His use of the characters' individual voices is excellent, and the dialogue often is funny as well as perceptive. The primary narrator, Michael Reo, is sort of a modern-day Nick Caraway. Along the way, Mr. Lardo reveals certain basic truths, which he notes with the keen eye of an observer. East Hampton, indeed, is a peculiar little town, probably with more billionaires per square mile than anywhere but Kuwait. Yet the haves and the have-nots of East Hampton bang up against each other much like bumper cars, except with amazingly few sparks. Mr. Lardo gets it: the fashions, the parties, the sex, the envy, the affectations and pretensions, all of those facts of life in The Hamptons. And he uses these details with his own elegant style, to construct a page-turner that will keep readers absorbed until the final sentence.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TAKE THE HAMPTON AFFAIR TO THE BEACH, July 12, 2000

By 

Gypsychick "gypsychick" (miami, fl USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hampton Affair (Paperback)

Summer is upon us and it is the time of year I traditionally put all serious reading on the shelf and turn to trash. I picked up The Hampton Affair this week and settled down for an afternoon of murder and mishap. I ended up with a wicked sunburn - couldn't put it down. This intricate thriller twists and turns around three main charcters: a vain and straying voyueristic husband of an ultra rich woman, a bisexual blue collar teenage manipulator, and the local detective. It takes the usual "haves vs have nots" and kicks it up a closer to a Hitchcockian notch. In a nutshell, start with a secret affair, a murder, and how it all ties in with three diverse families, and finally who done it. Read it! Wear sunscreen.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT!, November 2, 1999

By 

Albert N Rocco - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hampton Affair (Hardcover)

MR. LARDO KEEPS YOU BOTH INTRIGUED AND COMICALLY ENTERTAINED THROUGHOUT THE "HAMPTON AFFAIR".THIS BOOK IS A KNOCKOUT AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR HIS NEXT ADVENTURE.