From Publishers Weekly
Cassie Sales is 50, dumpy and bored, and she's the rather spiritless heroine of this new novel by Glass (Burning Time). Cassie's jet-setting international wine-dealer husband, Mitch, hasn't had sex with her in years; to reignite their failing marriage, Cassie resolves to take advantage of Mitch's business-trip absence and buy herself a face-lift. She has the surgery, but Mitch arrives home unexpectedly, takes one look at her frighteningly bruised face and collapses with a near-fatal stroke. He lies in a coma as Cassie slowly learns that he's been cheating on her for years and is about to end their marriage and leave her broke. What should be a comic romp starts off as a plod, weighed down by the musings of the earnest and pathetic Cassie. The novel picks up halfway through, when the point of view shifts to that of Mona, Mitch's manipulative 36-year-old mistress. She's a shallow but vigorous conniver whom Glass describes with obvious relish ("Mona was a very practical girl whose bible was The Art of War.... She analyzed it daily and applied the strategy of the Seven Military Classics to human relations"). Glass's portrait of Mitch, "a very dependent man parading as an independent one," is also sharp and believable. But secondary characters, such as Cassie's slapstick Aunt Edith or her bratty children, Marsha and Teddy, are less successful. There are bright spots, but readers of Glass's far better mystery series featuring NYPD detective April Woo should skip this one.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Glass sets aside her popular mystery series featuring April Woo and plunges full speed into comedic suspense-with great results. Cassandra Sales is a 50-year-old Long Island housewife, fairly content in life until her workaholic wine importer husband, Mitch, suffers a stroke and languishes in a coma. Cassandra soon discovers that much of her husband's business dealings were shady and highly illegal. To make matters worse, Mona Simpson, an employee, has not only been having an affair with Mitch but has also racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, using credit cards issued in Cassandra's name. And soon the IRS comes knocking on Cassandra's door. Glass's story moves along at a snappy clip, highlighted by hysterical one-liners and slightly over-the-top characterizations. Of course, it doesn't take too much to figure out that the whole financial mishmash is going to work out in the end with the help of a particularly attractive and helpful IRS agent, who has the unlikely name of Charles Schwab. Still, readers will enjoy the plot twists and humorous circumstances leading to the final pages, where everyone gets just about what they deserve. For fans of Susan Isaacs and Olivia Goldsmith and those who like their fiction light and entertaining, Glass's new title is a winner. For all public libraries.
Margaret Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., MI Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
