Saving Valencia

by Steven Cooper

Book Overview

Valencia Brandywine, heiress to a hotel empire, has been kidnapped, and the ransom is $7 million and her brother Rico's denouncement of his homosexuality. Valencia has been kidnapped by a group of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555838413
• ISBN13: 9781555838416
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Alyson Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Write Stuff

If you can go beyond the humor in this book, which is hysterical, you will find an endearing story of family ties and the deep bond of a sister and brother. Surrounded by some of the most colorful characters I've come across in recent fiction, Rico Brandywine is searching for his sister Valencia who's been kidnapped by religious zealots. His journey is amazing. The story keeps you wanting more. While there is a ton of campy, irreverant humor in this book, Mr. Cooper also reveals an almost lyrical quality to his writing as he delves into the supernatural and the unexpected. Apparently, Rico is learning about himself in the most primal of ways, discovering powers and the truth behind his neurosis. A neurotic character can make for fun but often tiresome reading -- however, Rico bounces off the page as a friend you want to know. This is, ultimately, a sweet novel written by an author with a lot of heart. There may be readers turned off by some of the rough language and graphic sexual situations, but that's modern reading and it does not deflect from the strength of this novel. This is a gem.

saving this reader from boredom

Steven Cooper did it again! His second book is extremely different from his first, with you in spirit, but it in no, NO way disappoints! Just like the first novel, I couldn't put it down... and literally finished it in one fell swoop! I can't even begin to describe the wonderful way in which this writer thinks... he looks at the world in such a delightful, witty, humorous, offbeat, eclectic way...you just want to climb into the author's head and find out what makes him tick! on the last page i found myself praising him out loud for not wasting my time or intelligence on blase' blase' storylines. He challenges the reader with his captivating mind... and i cannot wait for his 3rd book! if you are listening steven, hurry!!!!! i'm not content to read second rate novelists anymore! Give up journalism and write full-time, please, please, please! Signed, a desperate magna cum laude housewife!

Shake hands and "come out" laughing

Don't you hate when this happens? Your sister has been kidnapped by "Christian" terrorists who demand seven million dollars and that you publicly renounce your homosexuality through the Lord. This is the dilemma faced by Rico Brandywine, the 30-something openly-gay heir to the Brandywine Hotel empire, whose sister and confidant Valencia disappeared when flying to join him for a business-related charity event. While kidnapping is nothing new to the Brandywine children, whose family fortune made them a popular target throughout their childhoods, the fact that they are now adults, and the religious connotations to the terrorist's demands, make this seem very different. But Rico has his own problems, explored for years through a continuing cast of therapists. He is still smarting a bit from the end of a relationship with an egomaniac television reporter, finds he needs to bite his tongue to avoid spewing sexual obscenities at inopportune moments, is embarrassed that he frequently gets an erection when shaking hands with people he hardly knows, and wonders about a series of coincidences where people he has met later reveal that have "come out" from their previously latent homosexuality. His best friend, D'Vora Wasserman, joins him to lend emotional support, and the twosome end up traveling to Israel based on a clue Rico believes Valencia leaked in a phone call demanding ransom. Along the way, Rico learns he has a very special power, which both fortifies and terrifies him at the same time.A good beach read, Cooper's second novel (after "With You In Spirit") presents a witty but plausible mystery that will delight readers.