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or Barnes & Noble Gift Card. Also,
come back daily to interact with Mark and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing
you lots of luck in this exciting giveaway!
Friend of
the Devil
by Mark Spivak
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GENRE:
Thriller
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BLURB:
In 1990 some critics believe that America’s
most celebrated chef, Joseph Soderini di Avenzano, sold his soul to the Devil
to achieve culinary greatness. Whether he is actually Bocuse or Beelzebub,
Avenzano is approaching the 25th anniversary of his glittering Palm Beach
restaurant, Chateau de la Mer, patterned after the Michelin-starred palaces of
Europe.
Journalist David Fox arrives in Palm Beach
to interview the chef for a story on the restaurant’s silver jubilee. He
quickly becomes involved with Chateau de la Mer’s hostess, unwittingly
transforming himself into a romantic rival of Avenzano. The chef invites Fox to
winter in Florida and write his authorized biography. David gradually becomes
sucked into the restaurant’s vortex: shipments of cocaine coming up from the
Caribbean; the Mafia connections and unexplained murder of the chef’s original
partner; the chef’s ravenous ex-wives, swirling in the background like a hidden
coven. As his lover plots the demise of the chef, Fox tries to sort out
hallucination and reality while Avenzano treats him like a feline’s
catnip-stuffed toy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT THREE:
He perused Chateau de la Mer’s large
and mostly incomprehensible menu. Changed every few weeks, handwritten in
Avenzano’s elaborate cursive before being photocopied, it closely resembled an
annotated Medieval manuscript. David was introduced to Guillermo Montoya, a
tuxedoed waiter from Spain with a thick, bullet-shaped head, who offered to
have the kitchen prepare a tasting menu.
Montoya presented David with a
sculpture of dried vegetables in the shape of a bird’s nest, filled with a
combination of wild mushrooms and chopped truffles, bathed in an intensely
reduced demi-glaze. The carrots, zucchini and peppers had been cut into
paper-thin strips, intertwined and allowed to dry, yet retained a surprising
intensity of flavor.
David consumed a dish of tomato,
basil and egg noodles, bathed in a light cream sauce, perfumed with fresh sage
and studded with veal sweetbreads. This was followed by an astonishing dish of
butter-poached lobster, remarkably sweet and perfectly underdone, flavored with
sweet English peas and garnished with a ring of authentic Genoese pesto.
He was served a slice of
Avenzano’s signature Bedouin stuffed poussin—a turkey stuffed with a goose, in
turn stuffed with a duckling, in turn stuffed with a poussin, or baby chicken,
with a core of truffled foie gras at its center, covered with an Etruscan sauce
of chopped capers, raisins, and pine nuts. This dish had been the source of
much controversy over the years, since it bore a close resemblance to a
Louisiana terducken. It predated the terducken, however, and was supposedly inspired
by a creation first served to the French royal court. For good measure,
Avenzano had added influences of Middle-Eastern cuisine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Mark Spivak is an award-winning writer specializing in wine, spirits,
food, restaurants and culinary travel. He was the wine writer for the Palm
Beach Post from 1994-1999, and was honored by the Academy of Wine
Communications for excellence in wine coverage “in a graceful and approachable
style.” Since 2001 has been the Wine and Spirits Editor for the Palm Beach
Media Group; his running commentary on the world of food, wine and spirits is
available at the Global Gourmet blog on www.palmbeachillustrated.com. He
is the holder of the Certificate and Advanced diplomas from the Court of Master
Sommeliers.
Mark’s work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Robb Report,
Men’s Journal, Art & Antiques, the Continental and Ritz-Carlton magazines,
Arizona Highways and Newsmax. He is the author of Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History (Lyons Press, 2012) and Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating
Cornbread in a Bottle (Lyons Press, 2014). His first novel, Friend of the Devil, is published by
Black Opal Books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH MARK:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2atWoDs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Mark will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a
randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHi Mark! It is great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting.
ReplyDelete