Forever by Judith Gould

From the Publisher

A brutal murder catapults an investigative journalist into the mysterious and twisted world of a powerful, privileged family. By the author of Dazzle and Sins.

Publishers Weekly

The bestselling author of Never Too Rich here offers a sticky, implausible narrative blend of intrigue, SF and turgid romance, replete with heaving breasts and robust cliches. In 1950, famed diva and Nazi sympathizer Lili Schneider, supposedly burned fatally and beyond recognition in a fire, was buried in Berlin. But was the body really Lili's? When her biographer asks that question, he winds up hung from a chandelier. His niece, glamorous investigative reporter Stephanie Merlin, vows revenge and soon ``dies'' in a bomb blast meant to stop her probing. Resurrected in disguise, she whips through a full hand of fake passports while hunting the reclusive de Veigas, Brazilian multimillionaires who may know Lili's whereabouts. After ramming their high-security yacht with a motorboat, Stephanie catapults into the heart and bed of their son Eduardo de Veiga, a macho who never once asks about his new lover's past. The elder de Veigas, who seem to have drained the fountain of youth, keep a rabid ex-CIA man on a very loose leash; support an international charity for needy children, many of whom disappear forever; and report daily for mysterious transfusions to a doctor who did research under the Third Reich. Stilted dialogue and florid narrative touches drown the few sparks Gould manages to strike during a manhunt in the final chapters. (Dec.)

Library Journal

Gould ( Never Too Rich , Dutton, 1991) dishes up intrigue, romance studded with euphemistically explicit sex, a string of murders by an enormous assassin, lifestyles of the megarich, and the quest for eternal youth at an inhumanly high price. When author Carleton Merlin is found dead, an apparent suicide, his TV journalist granddaughter Stephanie suspects foul play connected to his research into the life of German opera star Lili Schneider, who supposedly died in 1950. Stephanie's search for the truth takes her from the arms of her photographer lover and sends her to the capitals of Europe and the Brazilian empire of the world's richest man. The story steamrolls at the start, slows at flowery sex scenes and descriptions of opulence, and ends as might be expected. A guilty pleasure for a certain audience. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/92.-- Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.

BookList

Stephanie Merlin, a television celebrity, goes under cover to find her grandfather's murderer and the motive for wanting him killed. She thinks correctly that his work on a biography of Lili Schneider, the famous diva who was buried in 1950, must have stirred up someone's ire, and, following the clues he behind, she travels to Budapest, Salzburg, Milan, Capri, and Rio de Janeiro. On the way, she bumps up against the Children's Relief Year-Round Organization and becomes a guest of the fabulously wealthy de Veiga family of Brazil. Meanwhile, Johnny Stone, a world-class photographer and one of Stephanie's former suitors, returns from Lebanon to pay his condolences and ends up playing the role of guardian angel. Eventually, Stephanie not only finds out who murdered her grandfather, but also exposes a widespread (and "really" sick) system of child abuse and murder, uncovers the identity of an assassin called the Ghost, crumbles the de Veiga empire, and marries her true love. How does she manage all this? Well, it has something to do with an ex-Nazi gerontologist and the fountain of youth. A vigorous promotion campaign may well generate demand for this overwritten, overlong potboiler, but even devotees of literary soapers may give up long before the finale. Buy to fill demand only.

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