The Up and Comer (Kindle Edition)

by Howard Roughan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The strain of living an excessive, brazen, lavishly upper-tier Manhattan life in an "incredibly self-centered, every-man-for-himself world" takes a disastrous toll on the narrator of Roughan's supremely hip, brazen debut. Right from the opening pages, married 30-something cutthroat attorney Philip Randall shamelessly admits to enjoying an extramarital affair with Jessica, his best friend Connor's girlfriend. He's definitely not a likable guy, especially when spewing smug commentary on just about every aspect of city life, and when socializing with wife Tracy's haughty Greenwich, Conn., family. But enter penniless "stoner" Tyler Mills, a prep school buddy of Philip's, who has unexpectedly blown into town, and this time Philip's arsenal of designer labels and street-smart manipulation fails him. Tyler, flashing his "Manson Family grin," has been busy spying on his school chum's secret rendezvous with Jessica and predictably proceeds to blackmail him. Outraged at his friend's audacity and escalating threats, Philip hatches a double-crossing scheme. As Roughan wraps his crafty plot around some impressively tense moments, the novel morphs into an engaging, cinematic page-turner. Auxiliary characters, particularly Philip's robust boss, Jack Devine, and Jack's kind, innocuous wife, Sally, are well-drawn and convincing, adding the depth and humanity necessary to counteract Philip's almost robotic duplicity. The novel's atypical conclusion, awash in wincing retrospection and a refreshing comeuppance, offers a satisfying and sentimental balance. Time-Warner audio book. (June 5)Forecast: Already optioned by USA Films, with the movie version slated to be produced by Michael Douglas, this derivative but slickly vibrant book will doubtless trade on the hype. Targeted marketing transit advertising in the New York area and Wall Street giveaways should help, and jacket blurbs by Bret Easton Ellis, among other yuppie dignitaries, will heighten the buzz.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
It's hard to like Philip Randall. He has a gorgeous, perfectly appointed Manhattan penthouse; a beautiful (and rich) wife; a partner-track position with a prestigious downtown law firm; and plenty of disposable income (thanks to the rich wife). But that's not enough for Philip. He doesn't merely want the good life, he wants the best life, and his cavalier affair with his wife's best friend adds just the right amount of danger--or "Risk Factor 5," as Philip calls it--to give his perfect life an extra kick. But when an unstable friend from his past shows up and threatens to blow the lid off of Philip's secret, the cocky attorney faces Risk Factor 10. Can he manage his personal crisis and successfully defend his boss' wife, who is charged with drunk driving? The somewhat shallow characters are a stumbling block, but Roughan's debut novel is fast moving and involving; mercifully, Philip emerges as at least partially sympathetic in the end. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 433 KB
• Print Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 5, 2001)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC1AQQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,863 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, James Patterson, March 27, 2005

By	Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Up and Comer (Mass Market Paperback)

A funny thing happened to me while I was reading Honeymoon James Patterson and Howard Roughan. I found a new to me author and what a find. While I have read all of Mr. Paterson's books I rarely bother to red his CO authors book if there are any because quite frankly I'm never that enamored with these books. That said as I gulped down Honeymoon in one day, I couldn't wait to find other books by this author, purchase them and then read his first book The Up and Comer. And now that I have finished Mr. Roughan's debut novel, I can honestly say this is one of the one of the best suspense books I've read in some time.

Phillip Randall is living the high life in Manhattan. With a wife from a very wealthy family and a job in a prestigious law firm, Phillip seems to have it all. Even a nice affair with his friends wife. But it may be too good since somebody is out to blackmail him. And we as readers watch as Phillip's carefully planned life begins to unravel and things go from bad to worse.

I highly recommend this book and now can't wait to read Howard
Roughan's second book, The Promise of a Lie. I also look forward to read ing more books by this talented author who now joins the ranks of other suspsense and or mystery writers I love which include James Patterson, Dennis Lehane James Patterson, Harlan Coben and David Rosenfelt.

Finally I owe a big thank you to Mr. Patterson for introducing me to Mr. Roughan. Had I not read Honeymoon I might never have found out about this author and enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed The Up and Comer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make time for this book - its creepy good., September 7, 2001

By	Will Redway (Amherst, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Up and Comer (Hardcover)

I'm married. I've got kids. I have no time to read. A friend of mine recommended this book and I couldn't put it down from its first disturbing page. Kids and family....they had to suffer while I woke up, read, ate, read,ate again, read some more....you get the picture. The main character, Phillip Randall is a bit too familiar to me. The decsions he makes - while deplorable - have an all to easy way of making you think...would I do that?
His use of commercial catch phrases is pretty darn funny. There were a few chapters there where there were more tag lines than half time at the Super Bowl.
When you come right down to it, though, Roughan has to be some kind of wacko to put this book together. He touches enough dark areas of the psyche that you feel the need to go straight to church after you finish. Buy this book. It's a good read and it'll make you think about all those "good people" out there. Are you one of them?

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (3+) The Unintended Consequences of Overconfidence, June 7, 2005

By	Tucker Andersen (Wall Street) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Up and Comer (Mass Market Paperback)

I discovered Howard Roughan when he co-authored James Patterson's recent book HONEYMOON (4 star review 3/8/2005). Based on my enjoyment of the writing style employed in that novel, I decided to read this earlier work by Roughan. My reaction was very mixed, the writing was excellent (better than four stars) and the story had interesting potential; however, for reasons which are partially personal and I will summarize later the story barely rated two stars in terms of my enjoyment. Thus, my rating is a compromise and a reader with tastes different from mine might react quite differently. (As demonstrated by the fact this book has received ratings from one to five stars.)

This is the story of Philip Randall, a true UP AND COMER with a small but prestigious NYC law firm. Philip's beautiful wife Tracy is adored by her very rich daddy, who spares no expense for his daughter including the purchase of the luxurious downtown loft where Philip and Tracy live. Philip is truly on the fast track and also living life in the fast lane. He is smart, motivated and supremely self-confident - after all, he has always been able to stare down anyone and ad lib his way out of trouble. Thus, while he understands risk and in fact quantifies all his actions on a risk scale of 1 to 10, he can't resist tempting fate by engaging in an ongoing affair with his best friend's wife. They meet whenever possible at a small sidestreet hotel convenient to where they both work; furthermore, they engage in elaborate precautions to avoid ever being seen together in public except when attending events as a foursome with their spouses. However, as the reader undoubtedly expects and Philip should have expected, suddenly their secret is discovered and the risk factor associated with his affair has rises dramatically. Philip is contacted by an extremely dangerous individual, someone from his past with nothing to lose and a belief that successfully blackmailing Philip can both provide him with the means to start over and settle long-held grievances as well. In order not to provide spoilers, I will simply summarize the outcome with the following description - the risk continues to heighten and all the major characters in the story are severely damaged (or worse) by the conclusion.

THUS.THIS IS REALLY AN OLD FASHIONED MORALITY PLAY. How the high and mighty have fallen! Play with fire and you will get burned. Pride goeth before a fall. Do not covet your neighbor's wife. Take your pick - this combines them all. I liked many aspects of the story; the author's research was good and his phraseology excellent. I work in the same area of midtown NYC which formed the locale for the action, the meetings in Bryant Park and lunches sat the Oyster Bar rang true and imparted authenticity. Many of the mental asides which we experienced with Philip as the first person narrator were truly enjoyable. And certainly Philip is a composite of many of many of the NYC (superficial) glitterati. Several twists and turns of the plot were quite clever and in a few instances unexpected; several of the minor characters including Jack and Sally Devine were also interestingly drawn. Finally, the very last few pages did provide some brief commentary on the correct priorities in our lives and the possibility of redemption as counterweights to the great majority of the book.

A portion of my dislike for this novel is simply due to a misjudgment on my part concerning its nature. I found it tense, disturbing and uncomfortable. I simply had not understood the focus of the drama or how depressing it would be. I also thought that it would be both more plot driven and have a better balance of the ethical and moral dimensions of the characters. If my dislike were purely due to my taste, however, I would not have lowered my rating to three stars. The factor would caused me to downgrade the book was the same factor which caused the story to be the quintessential morality play, the apparent inevitability of the chain of events once set in motion. I found it hard to accept the fact that at a few key decision points in his life Philip would have been so egotistical as to have continued his increasingly reckless conduct when he recognized how greatly the risks had escalated. He didn't have to be able to predict the tragic outcomes which ensued for so many of the participants to realize that his foolishness had become foolhardiness and stupidity. Thus, while I found the story well written enough to finish the book and while the first person narrative helped maintain an immediacy for me as a reader, I became increasingly uninvolved and thus my enjoyment lessened.

In summary, this is a well written, thought provoking book which I admired but did really enjoy. The goal of this review has simply been to attempt to provide enough information to help potential readers decide whether it will appeal to them, since it has been both highly praised and panned by others.


Tucker Andersen