I was really impressed by Douglas Kennedy's second book, The Job. It was a great read but somehow I had gotten the impression it was his first novel. Wrong. The Big Picture is his first novel and it is also excellent. It's not quite as polished as The Job, but a good read nonetheless. Ben Bradford is a Wall Street estates and trusts attorney who makes excellent money. He has a lovely wife, a home in Connecticut, two small sons and a fun hobby. And from his vantage point, his life sucks. Somewhere along the way he made good choices that just weren't the right ones. And then he accidentally kills the guy his wife is having a fling with. Kennedy is a plot master. His stories move right along and pull the characters with them. Hope he's working on number 3. ( )

I remember being shocked a few times and the suspense kept me reading. ( )

Faked death after killing wife's lover ( )

Ben Bradford is a successful Wall Street lawyer living a comfortable life: living in the affluent suburbs of Connecticut; married to a beautiful woman named Beth, father to two healthy, handsome little boys, with a partnership in a prestigious law firm. His life certainly seems enviable, but scratch the surface of Ben Bradford's ostensibly perfect life, and you'd find a deeply unhappy man - teetering on the precipice of a mid-life crisis. His job is an absolute snore; he'd much rather be at home, in his private darkroom, pursuing his true passion of photography. In fact, Ben is completely worn down by living the corporate daily grind, and Beth seems like she simply doesn't like him anymore.

Heartbroken by the sudden revelation that Beth is having an affair with the next door neighbor, Ben begins to panic. Desperate to keep his crumbling marriage together, he tries everything he can think of to reconcile with his wife. However, all his efforts at reconciliation are rebuffed; Beth wants a divorce. When an unexpected confrontation with his wife's lover suddenly turns ugly, a split second is all it takes to change Ben's life forever, leaving him with only one way out of his predicament. But if he takes it, there will be no turning back...

While this is the first book that I've ever read by Douglas Kennedy, I do have one more of his books sitting on my bookshelf. I absolutely loved The Big Picture by Douglas Kennedy - it was well-written, edgy and dramatic - in my opinion, just an overall thrilling story. I give this book an A+! ( )

Ben seems to have it all, financially successful, with a bright wife and two lovely sons, but feels he is not living the creative life that appeals to him. And then, events take over.

A quarter of the way through I guessed how this would pan out, and am delighted that I got it so wrong.

A fascinating satire on the nature of artistic celebrity, and the perils of getting what you wish for.

Ben is an anti-hero, at times nerdily obsessive, materialistic, and always completely selfish, but Kennedy makes him understandable.

Felt very alienated by the gruesome pivotal scene, but I suppose this just added to the ambivalent feelings the reader is supposed to have about the protagonist. ( )