The Gate House

By: Nelson DeMille

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

Length: 22 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London.

Now, 10 years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant. Taking up temporary residence in the gatehouse of Stanhope Hall, which had been the family home of his ex-wife, Susan Stanhope Sutter, John finds himself living only a quarter of a mile from Susan, who has also returned to Long Island.

But Susan isn't the only person from John's past who has reemerged: Though Frank Bellarosa, infamous Mafia don and Susan's ex-lover, is long dead, his son, Anthony, is alive and well, and intent on two missions: Drawing John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa family, and exacting revenge on his father's murderer - Susan Sutter.

At the same time, John and Susan's mutual attraction resurfaces, old passions begin to reignite, and John finds himself pulled deeper into a familiar web of seduction and betrayal.

In The Gate House, a book that is both a sequel to The Gold Coast as well as a suspenseful stand-alone novel, acclaimed author Nelson DeMille brings us back to that fabled spot on the North Shore - a place where past, present, and future collide with often unexpected results.

©2008 Nelson Demille (P)2008 Nelson Demille

Gate House

Riveting! While I liked the Gold Coast when I read it years ago, I found that I identified more with how the characters developed in the Gate House. I found this to be a superb sequel. As in many of his books, Nelson Demille's wit and sarcasm add humor and humanity to his characters, and make them likable even when you have so little in common. This is an outstanding read and the narration is right on. When you start, it will be hard to put down.

Überlege

Great story, great narration- but way to much profanity one can get the jest of the language without hundreds of f***k you's

A Very Well Narrated Performance of A Very Good Sequel

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. The narration, by Christian Rummel is outstanding. The novel itself is very good. It is a sequel to The Gold Coast. I am ver6 glad that I read The Gold Coast first, waited a few months and then listened and read this novel. I really like Nelson Demille and these are two of my favorite works of his. Thank you…..

reminded me of Hamlet

Nothing happens until the end... DeMille stole this ploy from Hamlet. And when you know what is going to happen, he stretches it out like Coney Island Salt Water Taffy. OK, but still captivating although nobody could be as droll as our hero.

You Must Enter The Gate House

The Gate House is a fantastic sequel to The Gold Coast. It follows the characters who I became highly invested in with The Gold Coast (no spoilers) after an extended absence. Mr. DeMille doesn't miss a beat in weaving this tale of reintroduction and going forward. There are some new characters who fit in cleanly. The human dimension of how relationships are made, broken and repaired are on center stage. It doesn't hurt to have one of the best narrators in Christian Rummel, who returns from reading The Gold Coast. He does a splendid job of bringing John Sutter and the other characters (remember, no spoilers) to life. I must admit that I had my doubts on how DeMille could achieve a sequel that lives up to the original, but he did it much to my appreciation. If you enjoyed (or in my case, loved) The Gold Coast, you must "enter" The Gate House!

Really, a great read...

To the reviewer that wrote about "jogging in the nude", you really didn't read/listen to the book, did you? 'Cause you got that wrong. This book was very entertaining, and a great sequel to Gold Coast. Some stretches here and there? Sure. It's a STORY.

I'm a big Nelson DeMille fan, but. . .

The Gate House sounded like the one everyone was bugging him to write: "Oh, you HAVE to do a sequel to the Gold Coast. It was such a GREAT book!" So he tried, and tried, and finally succumbed. But, its not the Gold Coast. It's just going through the motions. Fairly slow plot, and, with a few delightful exceptions, it lacks the sharp, hilarious, satirical dialog that distinguished most of his other novels. The narrator didn't help, either. There's a fine line between upper crust, "effete preppy snobs" and "gay," and the narrator sounder more the latter than the former. ("Not that there's anything wrong with it."), but it just sounds wrong and, in the process, detracts from the humor that might otherwise exist in some of the dialog.

A most satisfying sequel to the Gold Coast

Nelson deMille proves once again what a master storyteller he is across from many genres. Along with The Gold Coast, I also learned a lot about The evolution of parts of Long Island from an enclave for the privileged to a modern McMansion suburb. Christian Rummel brought each character to life with his/her distinctive voice.

Didn't Meet My Expectations

I should say first off that I didn't finish this audiobook. I got a third of the way in and lost interest and decided I had better things to listen to. I loved, absolutely loved book one, The Gold Coast. I recommended it regularly on book forums. But this book, . . . aaah.

In the first book, I loved John Sutter's snarky sarcasm , , , I couldn't get enough of it. In The Gate House, it was not as funny and way overdone. I don't think he said a single sentence without sarcasm.

In the first book, John's wife, Susan, was an interesting, sexy character. In this sequel, she sounded like an old alcoholic to me and had totally lost her allure. Her actions were totally unbelievable as were John's response to them.

In the first book, the mafia don, Frank Bellarosa, was very likeable and seductive, even to me, the reader. In The Gate House, his son, Anthony, not so at all.

I was not looking for this book to be a carbon copy of The Gold Coast, but all the things that made me love TGC so were not here.

Thus, my disappointment and unwillingness to plod forward and my low rating.

Six stars for narration

As with the Gold Coast, the story is very engaging and fun. The narrator(s) blow me away. I fear this may have set the bar and my expectations too high to ever enjoy another audio book so completely.