A Key to the Suite [Mass Market Paperback]

John D. MacDonald (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (July 12, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449129403
• ISBN-13: 978-0449129401
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,687,856 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:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chamber music in a minor key, June 27, 2006

By 

Christopher Enzi (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Key to the Suite (Hardcover)

This is my very favorite John D. MacDonald book so far. It is a slim book, filled with terse descriptions of unfortunate characters behaving as they are programmed to behave while justifying their greed, ambition, moral blindness and vengeful stupidity. As each character sets his own traps, s/he is pulled closer to a pre-destined demise. Can the corporation force an honorable worker to become a Judas, a hatchet man? Can popularity save an aging henchman from being sucked into his own whirlwind intrigues? Can S_E_X atone for the loss of dignity? Can a call girl regain her loveabilty through dignity and fair play or atone for her rashness through mortality? What do you THINK? Of course not! EVERYBODY PAYS! Nobody wins!
A KEY TO THE SUITE is juicy, glossy entertainment stripped of pulp and held under a moral microscope. It isn't Harold Robbins, folks. If you read the narrative too fast, you'll miss the beauty of the writing. If you read it more than once, you'll find that there's still more meat on those bones. This book is a KNOCKOUT!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JDM at his best (and that's very good indeed), April 27, 2009

By 

J. Shurin "carnivore" (London) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Key to the Suite (Hardcover)

A Key to the Suite takes John D. MacDonald away from his traditional stomping ground - primarily because it features (and empathizes with) the sort of suited corporate figures that his protagonists tend to loathe.

A Key to the Suite takes place during a business convention for a fairly nondescript bits & bobs sort of conglomerate corporation thingy. Like many of JDM's best, it employs a host of narrators - from the young up-and-comers on the local team to the out of town 'fixer' to the local manager with his job in danger to the over-educated prostitute with a heart of gold...

This cast comes together tightly in one short, tense weekend - careers, marriages, and all the trappings of life are on the line for these men and women. To these men, their livelihoods are their lives, and the absurdities of corporate life are vitally important rituals to them.

A Key to the Suite is overall quite dark - this is not a triumph of the human spirit, more a steady degradation. Everyone in the book is weak and flawed - redemption is difficult to find and impossible to grasp. The characters are more real - and more empathetic - for it.

Disclaimer: This contains all the normal trappings of the time - it is easy to find painful issues with the gender and sexual politics. Unlike many of JDM's weaker novels, I don't think these prevent the book from being an effective and emotive piece of literature. This really is JDM at his finest - making 'everyday' life into a strangely philosophical piece of drama.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been much more..., May 20, 2005

By 

neilmac "Neil" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key to the Suite (Mass Market Paperback)

Good, intense writing that draws you in with typical MacDonald style - quite an accomplishment when you consider the book was published in 1962. Terrific tale of a sales convention and a sexual liaison and attempted blackmail. MacDonald has managed to make the story almost timeless by careful avoidance of too much detail of cars, locations etc.

The book is something of a cop out though - it is too short. MacDonald kills off one of the central characters and brings the story to an end too quickly. I would like to have seen the illicit relationship extended until after the main character returns home and the further complications that would certainly have added. Would have made a more realistic and satisfying story and extended what was a good read...