Gate House: A Novel

In his foreword to _The Gold Coast_ (in the 1998 reissue), Nelson Demille describes how his editors, agent, and publisher dealt with the concept of a non-action adventure thriller by the action-adventure-thriller writer. Demille describes the word-of-mouth growth of the novel's popularity, which novel he summarized as "_The Godfather_ meets _The Great Gatsby_ on the Gold Coast." Publishers mistakenly touted this satire on manners and morals as a "mob thriller" too.

Yes, John does go on about ex-wife Susan's transgressions at great length---I was gettng a bit tired of it myself, but I was by then completely in synch with his thought processes. I'm now re-reading _The Gold Coast_ and enjoying it just as much this time as the first---and the second.

My introduction to Nelson Demille, was, I think, _Plum Island_, which introduced John Corey, ex-NYPD detective. I went to the used-book store and started at the beginning (_Babylon_) and that just sunk the hook deeper.

Having never read Nelson DeMille before, I am unable to compare it to The Gold Coast, his previous offering starring the same characters.
One hopes that The Gold Coast was a better book.
You don't need to have read The Gold Coast in order for this book to make sense; indeed everything that occurred in that book is lovingly rehashed in great volume and detail to such an extent that forward action in this novel's progression towards its anticlimax is stilted and slow at best.
The characters are shallow, selfish and seem to all be motivated almost entirely by money. It's impossible to like the Sutters. Even more unlikeable is the story's villain, Anthony Bellarosa, and for a villain, he is largely conspicuous by his absence. The narrative is far too occupied with musing about what went wrong with the Sutter's relationship ten years previous, and John's Machiavellian thoughts of betraying newly made commitments for money.
If this book were about the temptations and evils of excess, it might have some value, but at the same time John criticizes the world of his rich in-laws and neighbors, he waxes nostalgic for what he sees as a golden age of rich snobbery that's been lost in the past few decades.
If you're picking up The Gate House expecting a mob thriller, you'll be most disappointed. For a mob thriller, this book has very little mob, and certainly no thrills.