Author: Seth Greenland

BUY NOW: Shining City

Grade:  74/100

By J. Matthew Nespoli

Marcus Ripps, middle class husband and model father, has hit a rut.  He’s lost his job, his wife won’t sleep with him, and he can’t afford his son’s approaching bar mitzvah.  Then, an unexpected stroke of fortune; his estranged brother Julian passes, and leaves his dry cleaning business to Marcus… but of course, there is a catch… it isn’t a dry cleaning business, it’s a shell corporation to protect an escort service.

Marcus, a model citizen whose recent job loss has put him in a desperate position, first decides that he has to close the business- it’s the right thing to do, but then, on that first day, two of his “employees” show up and hand him a wad of cash, and now Marcus has a moral dilemma.  Events unfold and Marcus ends up keeping the business, and then, on one of his first days, when one of his girls “exercises” a client to death, Marcus must dispose of the body, and to do so he evokes his wife.  Soon, the entire family is in on the business and things begin to spiral out of control.

Though Seth (author) presents the situations in a light that is both too flowery and unrealistic, it is a great story, and thoroughly and exhaustively entertaining.  It also presents the reader with a good example of how quickly life can spiral out of control and what a slippery slope life can be.  A man puts himself in one situation and as new life situations unfold, he amazes even himself of how far he is willing to go, and how many of his ethics he is willing to compromise, to stay above water.

The characters are all painted very richly, and have very distinct voices.  From conservative Marcus, to the pot smoking pole dancing mother in law, to his wife’s best friend and business partner, turned dominatrix, we are given a plethora of normal middle class Americans that we can relate too, and watching their situations move from ordinary to extraordinary makes us feel that this could easily happen to us.  Another lesson the reader may take from this novel is that most corporate wealth comes from a place of greed, and that greed may be a much underrated violation of human ethics in this world when stacked up next to simple things we frown upon, like the sale of sex.

I enjoyed this novel and recommend it for anyone for a nice light, yet educational summer read.

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