Defiled

At the start of Nemeth’s unpleasant debut, the first of a planned trilogy, 58-year-old entrepreneur Randle Marks is served with divorce papers by his 44-year-old wife, Carrie, in the couple’s country house in Florida’s Cortes County. He immediately calls his best friend and lawyer, Tony Zambrano, who advises him to move to the couple’s beach house in the town of Dolphin Beach. The two later meet at the lawyer’s office, where they discuss strategy. Randle’s startup is about to go public, and if it does before the divorce is finalized, any profits become fair game in the divorce proceedings. Randle believes he must outwit Carrie, her high-priced lawyer, and her family members or he’ll end up broke. He’s willing to do just about anything to keep her from getting a sizable settlement, including undermining her credibility by providing evidence of her mental instability. Though Nemeth writes well and knows how to build suspense, the one-dimensional characters, none of whom are sympathetic, will put off many readers. [em](BookLife) [/em]