Two Time, by Chris Knopf, Random House Canada, 361 pages, $29.95
My first reaction to this second novel, set in rural Long Island,
was that the idea was too close to Philip R. Craig's Martha's
Vineyard stories. On the other hand, Craig's polished plots and
engaging characters are excellent, so why not move to another
place caught up in clashes between the rich -- both ancien and
nouveau -- and the rest of us.
Knopf is an executive in a high-powered marketing firm, and
a resident of Connecticut and Southampton, so he knows whereof
he writes, and Two Time is delightful, with lots more to come.
Our hero is Sam Acquillo, ex-boxer, ex-engineer and ex-corporate
executive, now living quietly in his parents' old cottage just
outside East Hampton. Sam grew up here, knows the folks (at least
the ones who've lived here year round all their lives) and loves
the place. He's sitting at an outdoor restaurant enjoying a spectacular
Long Island sunset, sipping a vodka and waiting for his friend,
lawyer Jackie Swaitkowski, on what appears to be a perfect day.
Just as Jackie arrives, however, all hell breaks loose. A car
bomb kills five and seriously injures Jackie. The target, the
head of a very successful money-management firm, seems blameless.
Two months later, the local police are stumped.
Sam's friend, Joe Sullivan, asks him to do a little searching
on the quiet. With Jackie facing extensive reconstructive surgery,
Sam doesn't need encouragement, but he can't go it alone. The
police give him entrée to the evidence, and it leads
to some surprising people and places.
I haven't read Knopf's first Sam Acquillo novel, but this one
is more than a good introduction to the series. There's much
fine atmosphere and we get some back story, including the arrival
of a very smart, very attractive woman who promises to stick
around and provide more depth to Sam's character. We forget,
with all the emphasis on Long Island money, that it used to be
farmland, populated by working-class people. Knopf works the
conflicts and changes into the setting, and his characters will
have readers returning.
