The Edge of the Gulf

By Hadley Hury

Book Overview

When someone you love is taken from you -- in an instant -- how do you cope? Laurel Beach is one of the last old-fashioned villages in West Florida Panhandle, one that has, so far, escaped commercial over-development. It presents both a haven and opportunity, and, this summer, it plays host to a varied cast. Grief has nearly destroyed Hudson DeForest. He's barely been going through the motions, teaching in a Memphis girls school, writing about film, talking to the dog. He's hanging on by a thread. It's been two years since Kate died, two years of grappling with profound loss, with the impact of the marriage of a lifetime cut short. Hudson's friend Charlie Brompton, the successful developer and restaurateur, is facing a different loss. He's growing old. It's time for him to let go of his most beloved enterprise, the mecca of fine dining known as the 26-A after the panhandle highway where it sits. And of its funky adjunct, The Blue Bar. With no immediate family as heirs, Charlie's considering his choice of successors. And what he should do for his godson, Chaz? He also wonders if Hudson will return to Laurel Beach, to the cottage he occupied with Kate. Will Hudson ever forgive him? Meanwhile Chaz has met Sydney, a former actress. They're living well in Atlanta, thinking about marriage. Thinking, too, that perhaps they should go to Laurel Beach, touch base with Charlie.... As Hudson settles in and doggedly takes up his summer project--he has a book contract for a collection of his film reviews--the undying past and a present struggling to be born exert their fierce, and sometimes indistinguishable, claims. So it is for Charlie, and for Sydney and Chaz.Gradually a bizarre maelstrom of deceit, betrayal, and murder evolves in Laurel Beach, ensnaring the wealthy and the beautiful, the misguided and the desperate. Will its force fill Hudson with newfound determination to celebrate life--or will it destroy those he still holds dear? In his first novel, Hadley Hury paints an evocative picture of the Gulf Coast and a moving portrait of grief and renewal, underpinning the suspense with reviews of films that eerily mirror the events overtaking his characters.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590580834
• ISBN13: 9781590580837
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A major debut !

The best new writer I've come across in quite awhile. My book club read this novel last month after one of our members was given a copy for his birthday. Great read, out of the ordinary characters, evocative Gulf Coast settings, intelligent and provocative situations and themes.

Inspired

Hury is a truly inspired writer! To see such an engrossing book come from a fresh writer renews my faith in literature. He truly captures the emotions of the characters. Everyone should read this book!

Refreshing

Out of the ordinary and very well-written. The characters are interesting, the plot intelligently and subtly intriguing, the setting beautifully rendered. So much enjoyed it -- just before Christmas -- that I gave three copies as gifts to friends.

Truly Interesting

Great holiday reading. The Gulf Coast setting is palpable -- not just that south Mississippi pseudo-noir stuff: this is the real deal. Good characters, out of the ordinary. A plot that is subtle, constantly unexpected, and satisfying; intellectually stimulating and grounded in topical issues without being heavy-handed. I'm a suspense and mystery fan and, consequently, read the good, the bad, the indifferent. This is a big cut above the usual. Who is Hadley Hury? New author, I guess. Look for him.

powerful work of psychological suspense

Love came late for Hudson De Forest but when he fell, he fell hard for Kate. Their time together was short and though he is now on the road to recovery he feels that visiting their cabin in Laurel Beach, Florida will be very difficult for him. Wealthy entrepreneur Charlie Brompton is determined to help Hudson while entertaining his only blood relative Chaz and his new bride SydneySydney and Chaz know that Charlie is very wealthy and that he plans to leave this wealth in a land trust. His relatives feel that they deserve to be Charlie's heirs and they intend to make that happen by using a disgruntled employee and a religious fanatic to carry out a scheme that will give them everything they want. Their plan depends on stealth and subterfuge but they haven't reckoned with Charlie's friends who will do anything to protect him.THE EDGE OF THE GULF is a powerful work of psychological suspense that depends heavily on the characters to make the plot work. The antagonists are amoral, diabolical schemers who readers will love hating and hope that the people who truly love the benevolent kind-hearted Charlie, a protagonist who inspires the audience into believing that most people are fundamentally good, stop their plans. Hadley Hury has written some movie reviews that are literary masterpieces and eerily mirrors events that take place in this novel. Harriet Klausner