Friend of the Devil
by Mark Spivak
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Pub Date May 27 2016 | Archive Date Sep 27 2016
Description
In 1990 some critics believe that America’s most celebrated chef, Joseph Soderini di Avenzano, cut a deal with the Devil to achieve fame and fortune. Whether he is actually Bocuse or Beelzebub, Avenzano is approaching the 25th anniversary of his glittering Palm Beach restaurant, Chateau de la Mer, patterned after the Michelin-starred palaces of Europe.
Journalist David Fox arrives in Palm Beach to interview the chef for a story on the restaurant’s silver jubilee. He quickly becomes involved with Chateau de la Mer’s hostess, unwittingly transforming himself into a romantic rival of Avenzano. The chef invites Fox to winter in Florida and write his authorized biography. David gradually becomes sucked into the restaurant’s vortex: shipments of cocaine coming up from the Caribbean; the Mafia connections and unexplained murder of the chef’s original partner; the chef’s ravenous ex-wives, swirling in the background like a hidden coven. As his lover plots the demise of the chef, Fox tries to sort out hallucination and reality while Avenzano treats him like a feline’s catnip-stuffed toy.
Journalist David Fox arrives in Palm Beach to interview the chef for a story on the restaurant’s silver jubilee. He quickly becomes involved with Chateau de la Mer’s hostess, unwittingly transforming himself into a romantic rival of Avenzano. The chef invites Fox to winter in Florida and write his authorized biography. David gradually becomes sucked into the restaurant’s vortex: shipments of cocaine coming up from the Caribbean; the Mafia connections and unexplained murder of the chef’s original partner; the chef’s ravenous ex-wives, swirling in the background like a hidden coven. As his lover plots the demise of the chef, Fox tries to sort out hallucination and reality while Avenzano treats him like a feline’s catnip-stuffed toy.
Advance Praise
"In Friend of the Devil by Mark Spivak, David Fox is a freelance journalist from New York, who takes an assignment to cover the twenty-fifth anniversary of a famous chef and his restaurant in Florida. The chef is reputed to have made a deal with the Devil for fame and fortune as well as unsurpassed talent as a chef. David doesn't know whether this is true or not, but things are definitely not what they seem. Is the chef possessed by the Devil or is he just the personification of evil? Either way, David isn't sure if he will get out of Florida alive. The book has a solid, if complicated, plot, and nothing seems to go as you expect. The writing is strong and the character development superb." Taylor Jones, reviewer.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781626944527 |
| PRICE | $13.49 (USD) |
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