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The Gun Runner's Daughter
Law student Allison Rosenthal has lived a life of wealth and the finest schools, summers in Martha's Vineyard, a future both brilliant and certain. Until the call that shatters her Her father has been arrested for illegal arms dealing, a case that is being directed from the highest levels of government. And the prosecutor hand-chosen to lead the nation's unbeatable case is David Treat Dennis--her secret lover from a long-ago summer.
Even as the media's unblinking eye focuses on her family, Allison will face terrible choices and take stunning chances.
Drawn once more into an affair with the ambitious Dennis, she will be caught in a relationship charged with danger--and possibilities. How far is she willing to go to protect those she loves? Whose claim on her love and loyalty is greater? And how thin is the line between justice and revenge?
Even as the media's unblinking eye focuses on her family, Allison will face terrible choices and take stunning chances.
Drawn once more into an affair with the ambitious Dennis, she will be caught in a relationship charged with danger--and possibilities. How far is she willing to go to protect those she loves? Whose claim on her love and loyalty is greater? And how thin is the line between justice and revenge?
- GenresFiction
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Neil Gordon
49 books20 followersBorn in South Africa in 1958, but his family emigrated to the USA when he was 2 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 12, 2025
CRITIQUE:
Sexual Politics and the Arms Trade
With one exception, this novel was an authentic, convincing and stimulating thriller set in the world of American and Middle Eastern politics, national security, international arms trading (both authorised and covert), global capitalism, criminal justice, and investigative journalism.
The exception to which I refer concerns the titular "gun runner's daughter", who by the end of the novel has qualified as a lawyer and business woman in her own right.
What I found unconvincing was the description of Allison/Esther Rosenthal, as having "small breasts, a thin waist and a Star of David that was lowered into her breasts."
This description was repeated half a dozen times throughout the novel.
It wasn't apparent to me (let alone would it be to a female reader) why a female lawyer and business woman had to be described in terms of the size of her breasts and her waist. Besides, it's well known that a predominantly male legal firm, faced with a choice between female honours graduates from Yale and Harvard, would choose the one with the biggest tits.
I don't mean this criticism to undermine the credibility, or desirability of reading, the novel. I found its prose well structured, really dynamic and enjoyable, though at times it was difficult to keep up with the many dimensions of the plot and Alley's almost male carnal appetite and activity.
Perhaps this is just another example of male fantasy construction, either by the author or by one or more of his characters.
The Personal and the Public
Paradoxically, Neil Gordon explained his approach to teaching and fiction in an interview:
His characters live normal personal lives within the framework of public events that govern us all.
Small arms trafficking
SOUNDTRACK:
Sexual Politics and the Arms Trade
With one exception, this novel was an authentic, convincing and stimulating thriller set in the world of American and Middle Eastern politics, national security, international arms trading (both authorised and covert), global capitalism, criminal justice, and investigative journalism.
The exception to which I refer concerns the titular "gun runner's daughter", who by the end of the novel has qualified as a lawyer and business woman in her own right.
What I found unconvincing was the description of Allison/Esther Rosenthal, as having "small breasts, a thin waist and a Star of David that was lowered into her breasts."
This description was repeated half a dozen times throughout the novel.
It wasn't apparent to me (let alone would it be to a female reader) why a female lawyer and business woman had to be described in terms of the size of her breasts and her waist. Besides, it's well known that a predominantly male legal firm, faced with a choice between female honours graduates from Yale and Harvard, would choose the one with the biggest tits.
I don't mean this criticism to undermine the credibility, or desirability of reading, the novel. I found its prose well structured, really dynamic and enjoyable, though at times it was difficult to keep up with the many dimensions of the plot and Alley's almost male carnal appetite and activity.
Perhaps this is just another example of male fantasy construction, either by the author or by one or more of his characters.
The Personal and the Public
Paradoxically, Neil Gordon explained his approach to teaching and fiction in an interview:
"My courses, whether writing or literature classes, like my novels, focus on the intersection between individuals and the political history that surrounds them; on the representation of lived political and historical experience in fiction; on the mechanics of the sympathetic imagination; as well as on the forms of the literary, political, and cultural essay."
His characters live normal personal lives within the framework of public events that govern us all.
Small arms trafficking
SOUNDTRACK:
February 20, 2013
I didn't make a note about this right after reading it and now I've forgotten it. It was a good mystery story, but a little too immersed in American and Israeli politics for me. I really liked the ending and didn't see it coming. It's a good exploration of justice - what is just, how justice is perceived depending on ones point of view, etc. Also where loyalties lie - within nationality, faith, culture and family. Actually, I'm liking it more as I think about it now, than I did while reading it! I would recommend it as a good read.
May 14, 2024
Boring
May 24, 2010
A young woman fights to keep her father from being convicted for selling arms to Bosnia. A convoluted, wordy, but readable story. Weak ending.
October 25, 2014
For some reason I found I simply couldn't connect with this book and found it a drag to get through.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews