Exploring the dynamics of a dysfunctional family as in the iconic The War of the Roses, Warren Adler’s new novel, The Serpent’s Bite, tracks the attempt by a wealthy father to reconnect with his two alienated adult children.
Led by the drunken outfitter and his cunning illegal Mexican wrangler over the most dangerous terrain in the country, the bonding experience ignites the increasingly murderous manipulations of Courtney Temple and reveals her to be one of the most evil women of contemporary fiction in what is a heart-stopping, suspenseful, erotic and never-to-be-forgotten trek from hell.
'How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child' --King Lear, William Shakespeare
This famed quote finds its modern meaning in a taut thriller of family dysfunction. In an attempt to reconnect with his two alienated adult children, George Temple replicates the memorable horse trek through the forbidding Yellowstone wilderness they had enjoyed twenty years earlier. But his callous children, Courtney and Scott, accompany him only to persuade him to restore the financial support he has withdrawn. As they are led by a drunken guide and a venal horse wrangler over potentially lethal terrain, their bonding experience quickly disintegrates.
Nostalgia is corrupted into a nightmare of lust, betrayal, and entrapment as the children’s disturbing motives are revealed and dark family secrets are exposed. Courtney’s appetite for selfish and violent pursuits establishes her as one of the most evil women in fiction, alongside the likes of Lady Macbeth. Through her, Warren Adler explores how an obsession for celebrity and blind ambition can distort familial love and turn a beloved child into a grotesque monster. As he did in the iconic The War of the Roses, Adler paints a frightening picture of the American family, only more sinister.
Professional Reviews
Kevin Cowdall, Author of Paper Gods and Iron Men
“…a tense, atmospheric thriller. As with the best of the author’s work, The Serpent’s Bite is at times intentionally uncomfortable reading, with acutely drawn characters it is difficult to sympathize with, so that we turn the pages awaiting an anticipated comeuppance. It does not disappoint… Adler has created a female character as manipulative as Becky Sharp, as vindictive as Nurse Ratchet and, ultimately, as destructively wicked as Mrs Danvers.”
To Read or Not to Read
“The Serpent’s Bite leaves a trail of destruction that forces the reader to question just how far one will go to pursue failed dreams…. This novel draws us into the snake pit of the human soul — with little chance of survival.” –
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