Queen Takes King: A Novel
by Gigi Levangie Grazer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gigi Levangie GrazerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-16
ISBN: 0743291999
Number of pages: 367
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Queen Takes King: A Novel
Book Review: " 'I want a divorce,' she said."
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This remark, " 'You are in the Russian Winter of your life.' " is directed at Jackson (Jacks) Power, the Trump-like billionaire "king" in Queen Takes King: A Novel. But it can as easily apply to Cynthia, his former ballet dancer "queen." Both of them, in their upper forties, need change: He, because he thinks he has fallen in love with a younger woman. And she because, before now, although she'd known he'd been having affairs for years, things hadn't gone tabloid-and-Internet public. When Jacks asks, " 'What's the big deal about Russian winters?' " he is reminded of the military disasters that forced Napoleon to retreat, and later killed thousands of German and Soviet soldiers in the unforgiving ice and snow..."Frozen stiff, human Popsicles. A natural ending to the unnatural force of war. And what was [Jacks] heading toward, if not the unnatural force of war?" Yes, he and Cynthia engage in their own War And Peace (Signet Classics), their own Battle of Stalingrad. Well, sort of.
Actually, theirs is more The War of the Roses. First they play juvenile pranks, such as getting mutual restraining orders and playing hide and seek with pets. Then, both still living in their posh, huge New York City digs, they advance to other ways to win the game of "freedom" after twenty-five years of marriage.
QUEEN TAKES KING is the first Gigi Levangie Grazer novel I've read, so I can't compare it to her previous books, including The Starter Wife. Here, Grazer writes a rapid-fire, quick-witted (sometimes laugh-out-loud), brazen black comedy of high-stakes antics of the rich and famous, complete with sassy side-swipes at a few real celebrities. Her prose is packed with cultural markers of the times, brassy innuendo, and funny metaphors and similes: "His Ninja Wife: she could move as silent as a nun's prayer." I could have done without the repetitive peppering of characters' speech with eff-profanity, but I suppose Grazer considers that a necessary touch of spoiled people realism -- and Jacks' hilarious, sour musings about Gargoyles (wealthy older men) just about balance the scales. Cynthia's development within the novel makes sense to me. Jacks, too, seems a psychologically consistent specimen, most of the time, but I was disappointed that his artistic roots didn't play a more decisive role in the turmoil of the denouement. And his foray to church also didn't pay out predictable results in my opinion. The Powers' daughter, Vivi, and a bartender, Adrian, both take key supporting roles in the story, as does Goldie, the hugging therapist; I wish a little more had been said about Chase, Jacks and Cynthia's son. Last but not least, the clever chess chapter headings and choice inclusions in the text nicely accentuate the Powers competitive shenanigans.
Although QUEEN TAKES KING is a "fluffy" chick beach or bath book in which the women's drive for independence is an overriding theme and the main man is foolish and often infantile, when the reader returns to some of the passages, the satire and zany triviality reveal some touching insights about both sexes' insecurities in the various stages of life. Have fun with it on its own sly terms.
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