The Prince of Paradise: The True Story of a Hotel Heir, His Seductive Wife, and a Ruthless Murder

by John Glatt

A MILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY
Ben Novack, Jr. was born into a hotel empire, Miami's lavish Fontainbleau. But his luxurious, celebrity-studded lifestyle would ironically end in another hotel room--where the police found him bound up in duct tape, beaten to death.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Seven years earlier, police found Novack in an eerily similar situation--when his ex-stripper wife Narcy duct-taped him to a chair for 24 hours and robbed him. Claiming it was a sex game, he never pressed charges and never followed through with a divorce.

A FAMILY MURDER MYSTERY
Prosecutors believed Narcy let the killers into the room and watched them brutalize Novack. They also suspected she was involved in the death of Novack's mother, who took a fatal fall months before. Strangely, it was Narcy's own daughter who implicated her to the police--in this twisted case of passion, perversion, and paradise lost...

"John Glatt is one of the finest true crime craftsmen writing today."
--Howard Goldberg, VH1.com

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, Crime, History, Audiobook, Mystery

464 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2012

About the author

English-born John Glatt is the author of Golden Boy Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, Playing with Fire, and many other bestselling books of true crime. He has more than 30 years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. Glatt left school at 16 and worked a variety of jobs—including tea boy and messenger—before joining a small weekly newspaper. He freelanced at several English newspapers, then in 1981 moved to New York, where he joined the staff for News Limited and freelanced for publications including Newsweek and the New York Post. His first book, a biography of Bill Graham, was published in 1981, and he published For I Have Sinned, his first book of true crime, in 1998. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including ABC- 20/20Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography. He and his wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnglatt

Reviews

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow Just took a view of how how others see this book and it seems I am in the minority loving it.

First of all, I did not have a clue what this book was about other than that it was true and there would be a killing. That is the way I like to read.

So the first part dealt with Ben Novack Sr and how he began the Fontainebleau Hotel which I thought was really interesting.
After a few days of reading I started to wonder who is going to be the killer and who is going to be killed. Well I found that out in the second part of this book.

So maybe the other reviewers had more expectations than I had or knew the story beforehand and that was why they did not like it? Or maybe I just have a different opinion but this was a book that made me think about what had happened even after I had finished the book.

It was also very interesting to once I knew who had done what, to look up the photo's online. There were none in my ebook edition.

John Glatt made me feel I was there and like I knew those people and I really like his writing.

[Kristen Freiburger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story! I enjoyed all the Grand Rapids connections between Amway, Kendall College and Rebecca Dabakey aka Rebecca Bliss aka Mona Love. Who is now back in GR...making soaps for a living.

[MM Suarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.50⭐ This was an interesting book I enjoyed the Miami Beach and Fountainebleau Hotel history of the fifties and sixties. I remember hearing the news about the horrific murders of Ben Novack, Jr. and his mother Bernice but did not know much about the case. Based on this book it appears that Mr. Novack was neither likeable or very nice but no one deserves to die the way he did. The author does a good job of providing background and color but the story drags on too long at times, nevertheless worth the read for true crime fans.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shady people killed by by shady people. This is a stomach turning book filled with some vile people that were spoiled rotten and had no real care for people, just wanted what they could get out of them, which was their money and the use of their fame.
Well written.

[Dianne Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have found a new true crime writer.

[Sallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book interesting. The son of the the builder and owner of the famous Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami grows up indulged in all things. As an adult, he was more than capable of business affairs and became wealthy in his own life. Because of his lifestyle, he never fully matured and was prone to tantrums. He was unable to maintain healthy relationships with his friends and in his love life. Although he was married to his last wife, Narcy, for a long time, the marriage was tumultuous and often physically abusive. Indeed this story tells of how Narcy and her family members plotted against him and his mother. Both were murdered brutally. This is the story of lies unraveled and justice finally being accomplished.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book by the amazing John Glatt! I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book however I found myself not being able to put it down and jumped on it at every chance I got.
This book takes you through a 60 year journey of the Novacks and amazing it was. I was constantly on the edge of my seat reading this one! Growing up and living in South Florida, this story was able to come to life for me. Never a dull moment in this one!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent background on Miami beach’s early history to setup this true crime story. This book had it all...sex, cheating, famous celebrities, people behaving badly, and a horrific murder. Well written and the audio version was done well.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent true life murder story. Almost too far out to be true. Hats off to John Glatt the author for organizing all the juicy tidbits of the story.

[cluedupreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining-cum-chilling true crime story that reads like a cross between a Jackie Collins novel and a Dominick Dunne book—only, not as well written.

It begins with the history of the Fontainebleau hotel and its founder, progresses to the grisly killings of the hotelier's wife and son, and then covers the murder investigations and legal proceedings before culminating in the courtroom trial.

I loved the tell-all bits about the rich and famous, and about Miami Beach in its heyday and decline (for its second coming, and for what can be viewed as a companion to this book, read Fool's Paradise which is quoted liberally along with an Ocean Drive article in this book).

The author gives us fill-in-the-blanks (one minute there's a bomb to kill off unionizing, the next there's a union) and cycles wildly between Cristobal/Veliz/"Jefe" (all the same person, I had to remind myself).

Readers with short-term memory loss will appreciate the repetition mere paragraphs apart. I, on the other hand, was flipping back pages to find where tertiary figures I couldn't place had been mentioned (starting with Dixie Evans in Chapter 10: "You're Fired"). Between that need to search and the misaligned print, I'd recommend the ebook that hopefully does not contain the typographical errors that the mass market paperback does.

tl;dr: A thorough account of all that has been presented in chunks in the news, media, and prior books that's just in need of a good editor.

---
Tip: Stream the episode Deadly Rich: Bound for Murder afterwards, featuring interviews with prominent players. For all of the programming about this double murder, it best complements this book, imo.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Glatt is the kind of true crime writer I like, straightforward and undramatic. He takes more time providing the crime’s context than many readers like, but he does it well*, and in The Prince of Paradise I found it appropriate (as well as informative: for some reason I like books about terrible things happening in Florida and why it serves them right. Consequently John D. MacDonald’s Condominium is one of my very favorite books and I recommend it unreservedly). The crimes’ victims and perpetrators are all awful people - you could put their names in a cup, shake it, and pull out any two as victims and the world would be better off - but the actual murder of the book’s subject seemed to me more dreadful than any torture killing.
Insofar as the book is at least in part a biography of the victims, its main disappointment is its failure to discuss the source of the chief character’s unusual sexual paraphilia and his determination to continue his marital and commercial partnership with his wife despite her first attempt to kill him. It’s easy to describe the combination of entitlement and neglect which characterized his childhood but not at all obvious how that upbringing made him the adult he grew to be. Despite this omission (which appears to be a result of Glatt’s matter-of-fact style) The Prince of Paradise should interest serious true crime fans.

*well, but not perfectly. The meaning of Glatt’s assertion (in “Acknowledgments”) that “I also shared a memorable brunch with Lenore and her charismatic late husband, Dr. Bernard Simmons” is not clear. There are several possible interpretations, any one of which would accord with the occasion’s being memorable indeed.

[Olivia Danchik Fucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have been shorter as it got repetitive at the end, but I really enjoy this authors storytelling.

[Jim Crocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fascinated by the story of the Fountainebleau Hotel. I remember going there as a kid in the 50's. It was an amazing place. It was the coolest place I'd ever seen. Right away I wanted to spend the rest of my life in a hotel. But I didn't. To this day, however, there's nothing like spending time in a reaaaly nice hotel. Of course, I hardly leave home. It's got everything I need, but I sure do miss the helpful fellows in white coats bringing stuff and cleaning up.

The guests at the hotel seemed to be from another planet. In fact, the entire hotel was another planet. The swimming pool had a window in the bottom, where you could watch the divers crash down. As a kid I loved listening to the "chatter" around the pool deck. You could learn a thing or two there. Then there was the Boom-Boom Room at night. Oh my! All the nice ladies would sneak me in there to watch the Cuban bands. It was amazing music. Various sections of the band would suddenly stand up and just blast away. I'm in love with everything Cuban to this day: especially the music and the cigars.

The rest of the story is rather sad and certainly a tragic one for Novak Sr. and Jr. The moral of the story: Don't piss off Ecuadoran strippers.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guilty pleasure that I couldn't resist. This is the true story of the murder of Benjamin Novack Jr., son of the founder of the once finest hotel in Miami, the Fontainebleau. The hotel was the place to be for the rich and famous in the days before Las Vegas became the playground of America. Ben Jr. was raised in the hotel, mingled with people liked Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, and had everything but friends. A very strange child who grew up to be a strange man, he was a business maven and started his own company once the Fontainebleau fell on hard times after his father died.

His taste in women was odd, to say the least, and he ended up married to an ex-stripper who he then involved in his business dealings. As time went on, it appeared that they would divorce and his wife, Narcy, would get the short end of the stick in the money department. Conveniently Ben Jr. is found murdered in a hotel room in a particularly violent manner and it appears that Narcy will be a very wealthy lady. But wait!!!!....all is not what it appears.

This is the type of gossipy book that one just has to read every now and then. It isn't good literature but it is juicy and interesting. Besides you get to find out what a real a** h*** Frank Sinatra was!

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have briefly read about this in another book, but not to this extent. Ben Novack was born into a hotel family, who were the owners of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Ben had married a former stripper, called Narcy. Ben had not divorced Narcy, but they were estranged. He was having a relationship with an adult film star, called Rebecca Bliss at the time of his death. Ben was found dead in the Penthouse Suite at the Hilton in New York. He was found just a few months after his mother had died, later revealed to be a homicide. This was a really interesting case, and it put me in mind of The House of Gucci book that I read not long ago. I appreciated that John Glatt didn't put every single detail about the trial in there, as it gets so dull when you are reading what is essentially a trial transcript. There was enough history of the building and family to grab my attention, and the crime itself was fairly brutal. This was a good book, and I like this author.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben Novack, Jr., son of the founder of the world famous Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, was raised in a glamorous lifestyle surrounded by musicians and movie stars, but pretty much ignored by his parents. When his father lost the hotel due to finances, Ben became wealthy in his own right. Unfortunately, he was a really peculiar guy with an obsession with all things related to Batman, a passion for the material trappings of wealth, strange sexual fetishes, and a manipulative, evil wife who wanted him and his mother dead! I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book, such as the development of Miami Beach as a premier playground for the rich and famous. But there were times when I thought that Crazy Ben and Wicked Narcy deserved each other!!

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! This is a true story? It just proves one more time that the truth is certainly stranger than fiction (unless you are Neil Gaiman). This is an engrossing book, these people are not very nice, even most of the victims. There is some interesting history and lots of evidence of corruption, greed and downright disregard for civility. Wealthy people behaving badly could be the subtitle but the investigative reporting is well done. A little dry at times and seemingly too knowledgeable at others, it still is a very entertaining read.

[Albert Stern · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up in Miami Beach and enjoyed the first 150 pages or so about the Fontainebleau in the 60s and 70s. But then the book becomes excruciatingly detailed about Novack Jr. and his wife, repetitive, endless. Maybe true crime aficionados like it that way, but it was much more than I cared to know. A much more enjoyable book about the hotel was Everything by Design, by Alan Lapidus, whose father designed the hotel.

[Melissa Peltier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glatt is a polished and evocative writer, and this book shines in the first third, when giving the colorful history of the rise of Miami Beach and the Fountainbleau, as well as the downfall of the Novack family. But once it gets into the nitty gritty of the crime, the book loses its magic and its momentum. All the characters are so despicable, there's no one to root for. It's just a tragic tale of ugly, greedy people doing ugly, greedy things - both victims and perpetrators alike.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it were possible, I would have given this zero stars. It took a semi-interesting true crime piece, stripped it of all interesting features and substituted lurid ones, and then proceeded to be one of the worst-edited books ever. Major characters names are misspelled, often being spelled differently in the same paragraph. Pieces of the story repeat over and over. The book ends abruptly. Awful.

[Claire P · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have told a fascinating, taut story in half the pages. Instead, it rambled on, providing sometimes insignificant detail while ending with a whimper. It’s an interesting story and I wish it had been a better book. I cannot say that I’d recommend doing more than reading the first half, finishing up about the trial with a local newspaper article that might provide better insight.

[Wyatt Flett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wheather if you find the history of the Fontainebleau Hotel more interesting than the crime itself, or vice versa. There's a lot of legacy to read over when it comes to rags to riches to just plain blood story.

[victor harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a novel and provides a fascinating look at the dark side of the rich and famous.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great true crime read.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very well written and was hard to put down. John Glatt is one of the best true crime writers!

[Moniki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious. Didn't finish it.

[Jackie Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. If this had been a fictional novel, there is no way that I would have found it believable. Totally mesmerizing.

[Otto Ludvigsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book - amazing what people can do to each other !
Well written !

Otto V. Ludvigsen

[Nathan (SEEK GOD ALWAYS AND MAKE TIME FOR HIM) GOD LOVES YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read this book but it drug to me and was boring and it kept getting more and more boring so I decided not to finish it. Absolutely boring in my opinion.

[Terri Durling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read of any John Glatt’s books but being a true crime book fan, I recently came across him and decided to give him a go. This story is one filled with horrific details and characters you would never want to cross paths with. I was a teenager in the 1960s, the era that produced the legendary Fontainebleau Hotel that was owned and operated by Ben Novack Sr and his beautiful model wife, Bernice. Together they created a glamorous world that was the “it” place of its time and was frequented by the likes of such greats as Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret. It was the first of its kind and put MIami Beach in the limelight as the place to be seen. It was a world of glamour and greed into which their only child, Ben Novack Jr. was born and spent his childhood. He was largely ignored by his parents during his childhood and became a spoiled, arrogant man who was very demanding and self-centered. His second wife, Narcy, came from a very different background but soon got used to the luxurious life that Ben provided her. In fact, she got so used to it that she refused to give it up when she realized he was cheating on her and that a divorce may take place. Ben got closer to his mother as an adult and was a devoted and loving son to Bernice. Unfortunately, she got in Narcy’s way and met an untimely death just three months before her son’s murder - both of which were orchestrated by Narcy. Ben had several fetishes - he was the second largest collector of Batmobile memoriabila in the world and had warehouses full of collector items. He also had several sexual fantasties which included bondage and pornography of people with missing limbs. It was indeed a bizarre world that ultimately led to his death. Glatt does a great job telling this story and it is obvious he does his research. I will be reading more of his books in the future.