Book Review: Never Enough

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Never Enough     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Harold Robbins
Class/Genre:   Fiction
Forge, Oct 2001, $25.95, 336 pp.

In 1974 Bergen City, New Jersey, four high school seniors get into an incident with a drunken bully. One of the students David Shea hits the drunk one time too many and kills him. His friend Cole Jennings takes the rap, an involuntary manslaughter charge that costs none of them anything. Dave goes on to a life of hustling women and international insider trading of stock. He crosses the line of ethics and legality over the next twenty-five years while making millions, hurting many people along the way, and going through three wives and an assortment of other females.

Though written by his estate based on Harold Robbin's notes, most readers will not be able to tell the difference as sleaze and sex fills the pages of the story. The "story line" follows twenty-five years in the amoral life of Dave with some looks at his three high school buddies especially Cole. Most readers will find the tale lacks a plot and Dave has no motives for his behavior except some obscure need to escape his lower middle class New Jersey upbringing. Still, Mr. Robbins' fans will keep reading because the novel is easy to follow and the audience will want Dave to get his comeuppance.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner