The Glades

Every now and then I read a novel that is just about flawless in its concept and execution, and that is indeed the case with The Glades. It's clear that John Netti has put a lot of thought into the flow of his story, the timing involved, and the rise of suspense that runs throughout the work. But that's not all. The characters are engrossing and well-defined, especially the protagonist, Maddy Reynolds, a retired police detective. The plot builds quickly, and the pace is brisk throughout.

The story begins with Maddy's attempt to build a new life for herself in the Adirondack mountains, a task that is more complicated than she imagines. When she meets Avery Jordan, a wealthy playboy who owns a magnificent mountain-top resort called The Glades, she cannot understand why someone of his background is so interested in her. But what exactly is his background? Why is the Glades virtually closed to the public for most of the year? When locals go missing and turn up dead, Maddy is hard-pressed to put the pieces of this puzzle together. Is it all a matter of coincidence? Or something much, much more sinister?

A troubled young man named Hector tries to help her unravel the mystery of The Glades, but only succeeds in putting his life — and Maddy's — in danger. The Glades is a spellbinding potboiler that keeps readers holding their breath up to the very end.

John Netti's second novel, The Glades, follows detective Maddy Reynolds from his first novel Cupid into her retirement at a newly-built home in New York's Adirondack Mountains. Netti shows us that fate can't be denied and that evil is everywhere, even in the pristine nature of Upstate New York.

The action picks up right away as Maddy concludes her last case from the Utica Police Department despite her attempt to leave the world of murder and danger behind. Tension builds immediately on November 10, 1983, and continues through the conclusion in November 1984. Time is marked by dates before each chapter, moving back and forth through time and place. Using this device, Netti introduces disparate events and characters met in Cupid: Amber, Jody, Maddy's Utica colleagues, and introduces new characters, brother and sister Hector and AJ, beautiful albino Naomi, and the ambitious criminal entrepreneur, Avery Jordan. Naomi and Avery run The Glades, an exclusive private club on a mountain top near Maddy's new home. Thoroughly evil, Jordan has sold his soul at the Crossroads; his time has almost expired. At The Glades, power, money, and sex are meant to pay off his contract.

Piece by piece, Netti weaves these characters into a complete narrative of sex trafficking, corrupt politicians, murder, and the inevitable draw of righteousness and justice. As the story unfolds, the tension builds, and the reader eagerly reads to find out what will happen to the characters we care for and the ones we abhor. The pace is quick, making the book hard to put down: who will die, who will survive, will justice be served?

These questions are resolved through Netti's fast-paced storytelling, the characters he creates, and reflections on good versus evil. Maddy's father's badge is her talisman which compels her, perhaps even fates her, to fight for justice, to right wrongs, to defeat evil, for “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here,” as Netti quotes Shakespeare at the outset of this novel.

The Glades is an exciting and compelling read, although one wonders why a self-reliant single woman must find romance as the narrative concludes. Perhaps the connection between Maddy and Adam is the setup for John Netti's next novel, which his readers look forward to.