Cheaters

This "hot, sexy, and funny" bestseller (Library Journal) solidifies Eric Jerome Dickey's place as a master of the modern relationship novel. With Cheaters, the bestselling author of Milk in My Coffee rips the covers off the L.A. singles scene--exposing the lovelorn lives, and lowdown lies, of six young professionals... Everyone's talking about CHEATERS... "STEAMY." --Seattle Times "SURPRISING." --USA Today"DELICIOUS." --Washington Post "PROVOCATIVE." --Publishers Weekly"FIRST-RATE." --Los Angeles Times "AMBITIOUS." --Booklist "FRESH." --Kirkus Reviews "HONEST." --Ebony"TERRIFIC." --Philadelphia Inquirer

Amazon.com ReviewAfter a brief detour to New York City for Milk in My Coffee, Eric Jerome Dickey returns to Southern California for his fourth multi-track African American love story. The main story is a "he said, she said" affair between Stephan Mitchell, a well-to-do young software designer who's determined not to let any one woman get in the way of his good time, and Chanté Marie Ellis, who's decided to start turning the tables on men who try to play her for a fool. From now on, she declares, "A dog gets what a dog gets... dogged." Dickey makes their road to romance extremely rocky; in addition to sorting out their own feelings for each other, both Stephan and Chanté have to contend with exes who have just gotten out of their lives. Meanwhile, Stephan's best friend, Darnell, is having problems with his marriage: he wants to be a writer, but his wife insists that he put aside the "hobby" to pay more attention to her. When he meets Chanté's friend Tammy, an up-and-coming actress-singer who not only understands Darnell's artistic passion but encourages him, his commitment to marital fidelity is pushed to the limit.

As always, Dickey shows that he's on top of the current scene, peppering his characters' lives with the latest in black fashion and culture (if you ever find yourself driving in the Los Angeles area, you'll know exactly what your radio presets should be). Although the ending might be a little too neatly wrapped up, you'll never know before you get there whether the next chapter's going to contain romance, comedy, heartache--or maybe a little of each. Dickey's at the top of his form in Cheaters, establishing yet another credential for his status at the top of the contemporary urban romance heap. --Ron Hogan

From Publishers WeeklyDickey's racy comedy of African-American singles and couples will please, and won't surprise, the many fans he won with Milk in My Coffee, Friends and Lovers and Sister, Sister. In Dickey's Los Angeles, everybody who's anybody assumes that all couples cheat, and that nothing feels more divine than a forbidden sexual rendezvous. A trio of first-person narratorsAStephan, Chante and DarnellAtell interlocking stories in slick, contemporary chatter: often their talk reads like transcripts of phone sex. Stephan battles the memory of a father who considered the number of his female sexual conquests a measure of manhood. Chante seeks exclusive love from a high-performance stud. Darnell's wife, Dawn, doesn't understand him or his pressing desire to write; that's why he cheats on her with the comely Tammy. In and out of the bedroom, these protagonists' self-serving choices frequently get their hearts broken and leave them little room for insight and redemption. Trying hard to make his characters sexy, Dickey can forget to render them likable, attending instead to their stressful self-doubts and their torrid sexual desires. Though Dickey's numerous jokes about sex toys and organ size grow limp, he sprinkles raw, street-savvy humor on almost every page until the strained denouement. This provocative diversion is just right for summer reading, as lusty partners change places with the regularity of a sunrise and every encounter is rendered with a knowing smirk and a playful wink. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates; author tour. (July) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.