Derailed

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Momentum is the key to suspense, and James Siegel definitely has what it takes to unlock this tricky genre and draw readers into his riveting story from page one. Derailed starts with the story of an ordinary man, a teacher who divides his time between kids who think school is jail and real felons at Attica State Prison. His story gradually blends with one that's being shared by an anonymous inmate -- a compelling story of a mutual obsession that swiftly leads to disaster. It begins with a chance meeting on a commuter train between an advertising executive and a beautiful stockbroker -- both married to other people. They seek each other out, time after time, until an affair becomes inevitable. Then, just as they reach that idyllic peak, a brutal criminal shatters their lives. It's the perfect crime. The lovers are compelled by their situation to hide the fact that they are victims￯﾿ﾽeven when their attacker moves from assault to blackmail. In Derailed, lies and small betrayals escalate inevitably to violence, murder, and more, often blurring the line between right and wrong. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Every day Charles Schine rides the 8:43 to do the job he has done for over a decade in a New York advertising agency. With a wife and an ill child who depend on him, Charles is not a man who likes changes or takes risks ... until he is late for his regular train - and sits down across from the woman of his dreams." "Her name is Lucinda. Like Charles, she is married. Like Charles, she takes the train every day to work in New York City. Her train is the 9:05, and tomorrow she will be on it again - and so will Charles. For there is something about Lucinda, the flash of thigh beneath her short skirt, the way every man on the train is eyeing her, something about this time of the morning that will make Charles take a chance he shouldn't take, break a vow he shouldn't break, and enter a room he should never enter." "In a matter of days, a flirtation turns to a passion, and Charles and Lucinda are drawn into the dark side of the American Dream. In a matter of weeks, Charles's life is in shambles. A man is dead. A small fortune is stolen. Charles's home is violated and everything violently spirals out of control." But Charles is about to discover that once you leave the straight and narrow, getting back on track is the most perilous journey of all. And for Charles, that journey - of lies, terror, and deception - has just begun.

SYNOPSIS

Ebook Special Feature: Includes an original essay, ￯﾿ﾽA Novel Beginning: Insight Into James Seigel's DERAILED￯﾿ﾽ an essay by James Seigel on his path to becoming a published author and an excerpt from James Siegel's debut novel, EPITAPH.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post - 3/2003

...an ingenious little machine that seizes you, intrigues you, titillates you, and finally cuts you loose...popular fiction at its slickest and should find a multitude of readers.

USA Today - 3/4/03

The novel is a whopper of a story... This thriller was made for a long plane trip. Just keep your eyes on the page.

James Patterson

Derailed sure derailed me for a couple of nights. What a neat, twisty, well-written thriller! James Siegel has arrived in high style.

Publishers Weekly

There's an extraordinary amount of hype attached to this thriller, from a rave letter in the galley by Warner head Laurence J. Kirshbaum to an announced ad/ promo campaign of $500,000 and enthusiastic blurbs from Christopher Reich and, notably, James Patterson. The buzz is warranted: this story of a middle-class professional whose life goes incredibly, criminally awry is one of the most exciting thrillers in years. And why is a blurb from James Patterson notable? Because Siegel (Epitaph) seems to have learned at his feet. Like Patterson, Siegel is an ad man (a creative director at BBDO; and he, like Patterson, has created TV spots for his book) who mixes first- and third-person narration and knows how to reduce a thriller to its essence. Protagonist Charles Schine is also a Manhattan ad man, married, with a diabetic teen daughter; troubles at home and at work lead him to fall in lust with a sexy younger woman he meets on his commuter train, and finally to a hotel assignation that goes terribly wrong when an armed man bursts in, beats Charles and rapes his date, then blackmails Charles for a staggering amount of money. Charles tries to fight the blackmail by hiring muscle, a disastrous move that gets him into potentially dire legal trouble, as does his agreeing to participate in a company scam in a desperate bid to make back some of the blackmail money-and all that just takes readers into the middle of this terrific yarn, which will blindside them again and again with shocking but plausible twists. With its clean prose, high-velocity plotting and just the right amount of emotional shading darkening its sharply drawn characters, this novel is the bomb. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Ad executive Charles Schine's descent into a nightmarish world of ex-cons, scam artists, and thugs couldn't have begun more idyllically. A brief encounter on a commuter train with a seductive woman named Lucinda Harris leads to an afternoon tryst in a shabby Manhattan hotel. But just as the two lovers are about to leave, a man named Vasquez bursts into the room, beats up Charles, repeatedly rapes Lucinda, and robs them both. Unable to go to the police, since both are married, they find themselves vulnerable to blackmail. Soon, Charles is forced to risk his job, his marriage, and the health of his diabetic daughter in a battle of wits with a man who seems always one step ahead of him. Written with psychological insight and exceptional skill by an author whose debut (Epitaph) was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First Novel, this is a riveting story in which the prose glides as effortlessly as Charles's descent into hell. The immensely satisfying plot is marked by multidimensional characters, a highly original structure, an ever more gripping duel, and authentic details that range from prison life to a diabetic's struggle for survival. Expect demand, as the publisher has planned a half-million-dollar advertising campaign. Enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/02.]-Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Read all 7 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Gripping...relentless...powerfully real....Mesmerizing from the first chapter, this novel is full of whiplash twists, compelling characters, and visceral and wrenching dramatic moments. — James W. Hall

Derailed sure derailed me for a couple of nights. What a neat, twisty, well-written thriller! James Siegel has arrived in high style. — James Patterson