Advertisement You think you can find another one quickly, but pretty soon you’re downsizing. Restaurant meals are the first to go; the nice house and big vehicle, next. Your lifestyle shrinks in direct proportion to what’s in your dwindling savings account.
What would you do to save yourself?
Art expert Madison Dupree agrees to a job that will get her back on her feet within weeks. In the new novel “The Deceivers” by Harold Robbins and ghostwriter Junius Podrug (c.2008, Forge, $25.95, 336 pages), the job also will put her in danger, in a place where no one can save her.
Not long ago, Maddy had it all: a penthouse in Manhattan, a luxury car, lobster every night, champagne and jewels, and a job that let her rub elbows with high society and people who knew and loved art.
But that’s in the past now. An arrest for an accidental role in an antiquities smuggling scheme left her reputation in tatters, her life in turmoil and her job, gone. Maddy wonders now where she’ll get the money to pay the rent on her newly rented glorified walk-in closet.
Then salvation comes in the form of a Thai delivery bag.
The exquisite carving looks like authentic Khmer art as Sammy the delivery guy pulls it out of the bag. Maddy is eager to get her hands on it, but upon careful inspection, she knows it’s a fake. Still, she can make money on the faux art if she can find the right, rich client. Before she can question Sammy, he bolts from her apartment.
But the cops are already involved and, given Maddy’s accidentally shady past, they offer her a deal: If she’ll help Cambodia’s Prince Ranar catch whoever’s smuggling precious ancient art out of his country, the charges will be dropped, Maddy will get paid, and her debts will be forgiven. She can start fresh with a new life.
She’ll have to infiltrate the smuggling ring, though, and she’ll have to dig up evidence. And she has to go to Cambodia — former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, where corruption is still rampant — to do it.
But someone doesn’t want Maddy there, and they’ll do anything to make sure she doesn’t get the full picture.
It has been more than
10 years since Robbins died, but you can clearly see his hand in this book. “The Deceivers” isn’t exactly written in classic Harold Robbins style, though; it’s gentler than he would have perhaps told it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Podrug took the stereotypical ’80s big hair and designer gowns wealth and power out of the story, for one. While I noticed some annoying repetition in Maddy’s dialogue, Podrug makes her quite likeable. The plot is more approachable, too, which is very refreshing.
More of a mystery-thriller than not, “The Deceivers” should appeal to readers who have never read Robbins or Podrug, as well as fans who first loved Robbins 50 years ago. Save yourself from boredom and look for it.
Terri Schlichenmeyer lives in the La Crosse area and reviews books as The Bookworm. Send her messages via realtime@lacrossetribune.com.
