What do you think?
Rate this book
Manhattan Affair
A tale of New York City nostalgia mixed with murder and sex, Manhattan Affair portrays a world of secrets and lies which entwine the lives of three former New England college Jared “Jed” Chase, Steve Cahill, and Morris Bergman.
Jed Chase is good-looking and easy-going, and has a secure job. He’s lived a charmed, upper middle class and anchored life; that is until he falls for Katherine Cahill, a seductive and dangerous beauty whose dark secrets threaten to destroy Jed’s dreams, his career, ultimately his life. Katherine is married to financial tycoon Steve Cahill who has secrets of his he and his business partner, Arthur Barrett are suspected not only working for the U.S. government but also laundering money from them. Katherine seduces Jed into helping her plot Cahill’s murder in order to acquire his tens of millions of dollars.
It is when Katherine’s plan unravels that the story weaves its yarn and no one is who they seem. In an attempt to preserve his freedom, Jed delves into the secret world of Katherine and Steve Cahill and discovers a world of sex, espionage and lies. Helped by his buddy, Mickey Thompson and his former college roommate and now his lawyer Morris Bergman, Jed begins to piece the real story behind the story one frame at a time. All while under the watchful eye of both the NYPD and the CIA; Jed struggles to discover the real truth while fighting for his life.
In the tradition of Pete Hamill meets John Grisham, Jack Sussek has crafted an exciting first novel, rich in New York City detail and ambience, that showcases the power of human goodness and how both greed and love, in its many forms, can drive people to commit unthinkable crimes of passion. Manhattan Affair spellbinds us with the author's thoughtful and convincing nostalgia for his city and the thoroughly unsuspecting but dramatic twists and turns that sex, betrayal, and conspiracy take Jed Chase through.
Jed Chase is good-looking and easy-going, and has a secure job. He’s lived a charmed, upper middle class and anchored life; that is until he falls for Katherine Cahill, a seductive and dangerous beauty whose dark secrets threaten to destroy Jed’s dreams, his career, ultimately his life. Katherine is married to financial tycoon Steve Cahill who has secrets of his he and his business partner, Arthur Barrett are suspected not only working for the U.S. government but also laundering money from them. Katherine seduces Jed into helping her plot Cahill’s murder in order to acquire his tens of millions of dollars.
It is when Katherine’s plan unravels that the story weaves its yarn and no one is who they seem. In an attempt to preserve his freedom, Jed delves into the secret world of Katherine and Steve Cahill and discovers a world of sex, espionage and lies. Helped by his buddy, Mickey Thompson and his former college roommate and now his lawyer Morris Bergman, Jed begins to piece the real story behind the story one frame at a time. All while under the watchful eye of both the NYPD and the CIA; Jed struggles to discover the real truth while fighting for his life.
In the tradition of Pete Hamill meets John Grisham, Jack Sussek has crafted an exciting first novel, rich in New York City detail and ambience, that showcases the power of human goodness and how both greed and love, in its many forms, can drive people to commit unthinkable crimes of passion. Manhattan Affair spellbinds us with the author's thoughtful and convincing nostalgia for his city and the thoroughly unsuspecting but dramatic twists and turns that sex, betrayal, and conspiracy take Jed Chase through.
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2012
4 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Jack Sussek
4 books31 followersJack Sussek was born in California but raised on the East Coast of the United States, attended boarding school in Massachusetts and graduated from George Washington University in Washington, DC with a degree in English. He has worked in the timber business in the Pacific Northwest and in Australia, on sailboats in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and in surveillance, counter-surveillance, and remote site logistics in Europe, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. He has published short stories in various literary magazines. MANHATTAN AFFAIR is his first novel. His next novel is due to come out in 2014. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Read
April 12, 2012Manhattan Affair is a mix of suspense, betrayal, conspiracy, and passion. With his strong narrative Sussek captures the essence of New York in the 1990s. As the narrator, Jed Chase, walks and rides cabs through the streets of New York, you are right there with him. The smells, the texture, the tastes of New York, in fact the whole atmosphere of the city, leaps off the page at you as if it were a photograph or a painting. You are surrounded by Wall Street players with Hermes ties, witty journalists in tweeds & jeans, and attractive, fashionable Park Avenue women. You just can't put down the book until the love triangle mystery is solved at the very end.
From uptown pre-war apartments with fine art to the gritty police interrogation room with rusty pipes and stale coffee, you feel Jed’s stress as he navigates through the money and power mecca called New York in front of the shadow of the NYPD and the CIA. There is beauty and danger and passion and mystery and you get a strong sense of place as Sussek shares his keen observations about the world these people live in. As an interesting backdrop Sussek shows the city going through the dotcom transition, the real estate transformation of Times Square from theater district to tourist mall, and the loss of landmark taverns frequented by writers, mom and pop stores frequented by locals, and how a metropolis like New York struggles through one era into another.
If you like erotic murder mysteries threaded with conspiracy, ambition, and passion while learning about a real and fascinating place at a particular time this is your book.
From uptown pre-war apartments with fine art to the gritty police interrogation room with rusty pipes and stale coffee, you feel Jed’s stress as he navigates through the money and power mecca called New York in front of the shadow of the NYPD and the CIA. There is beauty and danger and passion and mystery and you get a strong sense of place as Sussek shares his keen observations about the world these people live in. As an interesting backdrop Sussek shows the city going through the dotcom transition, the real estate transformation of Times Square from theater district to tourist mall, and the loss of landmark taverns frequented by writers, mom and pop stores frequented by locals, and how a metropolis like New York struggles through one era into another.
If you like erotic murder mysteries threaded with conspiracy, ambition, and passion while learning about a real and fascinating place at a particular time this is your book.
May 14, 2012
This book was given to me in a Goodreads drawing to read.
I didn't care for this book when I started reading it...it was told by Jed a writer in New York. Jed was so wild about some girl that he just went on and on about how much he wanted her and loved her and I have never know a man that is that obsessive. I kept thinking don't be a sucker she is using you. Katherine is recently divorced but wants her ex-husband murdered....I never doubted that she wanted Jed to do it. It just went on and on and I thought I would never learn how or when...until around Chapter 35 out of 60. Finally, my interest in peaked and the pace picked up. The book had some interesting twists and turns and a surprise ending. I felt it redeemed itself with me in the last half.
I kept thinking maybe this book would appeal more to a man that could understand how or why Jed was so obsessed with Katherine.
I didn't care for this book when I started reading it...it was told by Jed a writer in New York. Jed was so wild about some girl that he just went on and on about how much he wanted her and loved her and I have never know a man that is that obsessive. I kept thinking don't be a sucker she is using you. Katherine is recently divorced but wants her ex-husband murdered....I never doubted that she wanted Jed to do it. It just went on and on and I thought I would never learn how or when...until around Chapter 35 out of 60. Finally, my interest in peaked and the pace picked up. The book had some interesting twists and turns and a surprise ending. I felt it redeemed itself with me in the last half.
I kept thinking maybe this book would appeal more to a man that could understand how or why Jed was so obsessed with Katherine.
November 25, 2012
I loved the history of New York and its Hot Spots, and all the different details of the locations. I felt like I was sitting right there with them. The story glided smoothly along like the main character who was taken into his new world by Katherine. I believe Katherine to be a fantasy character though. You can certainly tell this book was written by a native New Yorker who loves his city. I really enjoyed reading this mystery. Very nice. I am very thankful to have won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway!
May 6, 2012
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. So we start our story with a guy going to his lawyer friend saying he may be involved in a murder and then goes into the how and why and 40 chapters later the murder happens. This book was just ok to me I didn't really enjoy the writing style, maybe its because I'm not from New York, I don't know. For me this book would've been a better movie or miniseries, I think, and I don't normally say that. Definitely not my cup of tea.
May 10, 2012
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I really enjoyed it and couldn't seem to put it down. There was a good pace to the book and the ending did a great job of giving you all the answers without seeming rushed. I will definitely read this author's next book!
March 28, 2012
Fun and entertaining trip through NYC. This tale draws you into a web of lies and deceit that kept me hanging until the end. Congratulations Jack on your debut novel.
June 17, 2015
This review can also be found at http://exzorders.com/reviews/manhatta...
The beginning of the book suffers from too much descriptions and too little action: it also suffers from a lack of editing. But if are a patient reader then you won't let that put you down; nay, you would instead dig deeper, enjoy reading about the relationship between Katharine and Jed, which is like, the epitome of relationships; I would love to have someone like Katharine in my life. Lastly, you would also wait to enjoy the thrilling ride of the second half of the plot which culminates in a twisted, unexpected ending.
This is a great book even if you are not interested in mystery thrillers; if you are a fan of Manhattan like me, you would love it. I am yet to find another book which paints such a detailed and vivid picture of the city. In fact, the last thing was the very reason why I had started reading this book in the first place; that it turned out to be an erotic thriller with a twist at the end was a positive bonus for me. The dialogs are very realistically done, keeping in mind the mental state of the character. Consider this:
"One thing disturbs me, though, Mr. Chase,” Rodriguez said.
“What’s that?”
“What you said about the gun, that all you knew was that she told you she had one but that you’d never seen it. Didn’t you say that?”
My heart jumped. I knew where this was leading. “Yes,” I said. I swallowed hard, ready for Rodriguez to reply.
“Well one of the tapes indicates otherwise,” he said. He looked at me, his face hard, unmoving.
“Well,” I stammered. I could feel my face reddening. “I, uh, if it’s of what I think it is, perhaps, uh, you can understand my reluctance to mention it.” Morris looked at me. He was clearly puzzled."
Beware though, the sex scenes are not tame; rather they are graphic and might not be suitable to everyone's tastes. I have read a lot of erotica books but nothing so emotionally exciting and thrilling as this one. Recommended for open minded readers.
To read more of my reviews visit http://exzorders.com/reviews/
The beginning of the book suffers from too much descriptions and too little action: it also suffers from a lack of editing. But if are a patient reader then you won't let that put you down; nay, you would instead dig deeper, enjoy reading about the relationship between Katharine and Jed, which is like, the epitome of relationships; I would love to have someone like Katharine in my life. Lastly, you would also wait to enjoy the thrilling ride of the second half of the plot which culminates in a twisted, unexpected ending.
This is a great book even if you are not interested in mystery thrillers; if you are a fan of Manhattan like me, you would love it. I am yet to find another book which paints such a detailed and vivid picture of the city. In fact, the last thing was the very reason why I had started reading this book in the first place; that it turned out to be an erotic thriller with a twist at the end was a positive bonus for me. The dialogs are very realistically done, keeping in mind the mental state of the character. Consider this:
"One thing disturbs me, though, Mr. Chase,” Rodriguez said.
“What’s that?”
“What you said about the gun, that all you knew was that she told you she had one but that you’d never seen it. Didn’t you say that?”
My heart jumped. I knew where this was leading. “Yes,” I said. I swallowed hard, ready for Rodriguez to reply.
“Well one of the tapes indicates otherwise,” he said. He looked at me, his face hard, unmoving.
“Well,” I stammered. I could feel my face reddening. “I, uh, if it’s of what I think it is, perhaps, uh, you can understand my reluctance to mention it.” Morris looked at me. He was clearly puzzled."
Beware though, the sex scenes are not tame; rather they are graphic and might not be suitable to everyone's tastes. I have read a lot of erotica books but nothing so emotionally exciting and thrilling as this one. Recommended for open minded readers.
To read more of my reviews visit http://exzorders.com/reviews/
September 13, 2013
2.5 - 3 stars
This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Please take my rating with a grain of salt - What it really came down to was that I was hoping I would be a good match to the book but I think I just wasn't the right audience for it. I don't want to give the book a poor rating because it wasn't a bad book - I just hadn't enjoyed it like I hoped and it's hard for me to put a rating on that.
I went into this book thinking it was going to be a mystery - I was hoping for something vaguely similar to the In Death series, which is why I had accepted the book for review in the first place. It turned out to be more of a thriller and it gave me a "noir" type feel, the setting in the 90s somehow adding to that, though I'm not sure why.
I actually did like the feel and the color of the book, but the story line isn't quite what I was expecting. I had the impression that I was going to be reading a murder mystery, but it was really much more of a conspiracy thriller than a mystery. I kept waiting for something to happen and I felt like I was left waiting a little too long.
The first half of the book was a bit too much of getting to know the characters and developing the relationship between Jed and Katherine - which was good and all, but there wasn't much else going on outside of that. I wanted to be swept away with the story, jumping at action, trying to pick up a mystery, analyzing the characters, but it seemed like a lot of descriptions that would have been better interspersed with action sequences. It seems like a little editing should be in order to have those beginning chapters moving somewhere and getting the reader nervous and excited for the rest of the book.
The ending was very well written with some major twists and turns that I was not expecting! It always fascinates me when plot turns like that happen because I always think of how they started and where they originated from in the beginning. Nicely finished and nicely wrapped up. I just wish I had been hooked from the beginning!
This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Please take my rating with a grain of salt - What it really came down to was that I was hoping I would be a good match to the book but I think I just wasn't the right audience for it. I don't want to give the book a poor rating because it wasn't a bad book - I just hadn't enjoyed it like I hoped and it's hard for me to put a rating on that.
I went into this book thinking it was going to be a mystery - I was hoping for something vaguely similar to the In Death series, which is why I had accepted the book for review in the first place. It turned out to be more of a thriller and it gave me a "noir" type feel, the setting in the 90s somehow adding to that, though I'm not sure why.
I actually did like the feel and the color of the book, but the story line isn't quite what I was expecting. I had the impression that I was going to be reading a murder mystery, but it was really much more of a conspiracy thriller than a mystery. I kept waiting for something to happen and I felt like I was left waiting a little too long.
The first half of the book was a bit too much of getting to know the characters and developing the relationship between Jed and Katherine - which was good and all, but there wasn't much else going on outside of that. I wanted to be swept away with the story, jumping at action, trying to pick up a mystery, analyzing the characters, but it seemed like a lot of descriptions that would have been better interspersed with action sequences. It seems like a little editing should be in order to have those beginning chapters moving somewhere and getting the reader nervous and excited for the rest of the book.
The ending was very well written with some major twists and turns that I was not expecting! It always fascinates me when plot turns like that happen because I always think of how they started and where they originated from in the beginning. Nicely finished and nicely wrapped up. I just wish I had been hooked from the beginning!
November 8, 2012
Excellent story. I could relate to Jed Chase in so many ways, especially the lamenting of days gone by, the feeling of being a 'dinosaur', and the falling head over heels in love. This book is a testament to NYC. It was a real page turner, and full of great descriptive settings and characters. It has a continuous plot that kept me glued to the pages. Great to read.
Read
May 6, 2015Mysterious and drama filled romance
It was a good mysterious and twisted love story. Just when you think you have things figured out...think again! It seems the author did a lot of research to figure in the answers.
It was a good mysterious and twisted love story. Just when you think you have things figured out...think again! It seems the author did a lot of research to figure in the answers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews