The Other Adonis: A Novel of Reincarnation

If true love can travel across time, can true evil be far behind?When the beautiful Dr. Nina Winston's patient Bucky Buckingham reveals his secret to her, she has to doubt him. Reincarnation? True love across four centuries? But Nina is fascinated and lets herself be drawn into the charming and vulnerable Bucky's tale and into his life. Through hypnotherapy, she meets his former identity, and in real life, she meets his former paramour. If Bucky did live before, is Constance Rawlings his reincarnated lover? A dangerous search begins for the truth behind predestined love, and Nina is caught in the middle of soaring passions and raging jealousies.Peter Paul Rubens's painting, Venus and Adonis, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the inspiration for this fast-paced thriller set alternately between the seventeenth century in Antwerp and the present day in New York. A novel of intrigue and suspense, The Other Adonis is a tale of true love and murder, a mystery that takes the reader back in time to another world, with a resolution that will delight romantics and turn skeptics into believers.

From Publishers Weekly

The versatile Deford, best known for his sports writing and radio commentary and most recently the author of a novel about Pearl Harbor titled Love and Infamy, here segues into romantic suspense with a touch of gothic mystery. Set in 17th-century Europe and modern-day New York City, the plot entwines the lives of a group of characters all deeply affected by Peter Paul Rubens's painting Venus and Adonis. Two of the characters, magazine publisher Floyd "Bucky" Buckingham and financial analyst Constance Rawlings, believe they are actually the reincarnations of the painting's subjects. They approach psychiatrist Nina Winston to see if she can prove their beliefs through hypnotism. Nina, enmeshed in her own steamy relationship with a dashing minister, Hugh Venable, agrees. During the hypnotism, however, Nina discovers a shocking truth: both Bucky and Constance were indeed Rubens's models back in Antwerp in 1635, but their roles were reversed. And not only was Constance a man who posed as Adonis, but he was in real life a serial murderer named Ollie who may have actually killed Venus Bucky after the painting was finished. Nina wonders: If Constance was in fact a murderer back then, what does that say about her true nature now? Deford keeps the tone light and humorous, mixing history and crime and engineering romance between characters who, refreshingly, are well into middle age. The drama builds to a galvanizing finale on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then shifts down into a sweet denouement. Probably too sketchy on the mystery details to please true fans of that genre, this will attract female readers looking for an enjoyable light read. Agent, Sterling Lord. 50,000 first printing; launch party at the Met. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Psychiatrist Nina Winston has a new patient who seems utterly normal and happy except for his obsession with a painting by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens. Floyd "Bucky" Buckingham feels a deep connection to Rubens's Venus and Adonis, as does the true love of his life, Constance; they both believe they were Rubens's models and lovers in a past life. Despite her skepticism, Nina is drawn deeper and deeper into her patients' dilemma and, through them, into Rubens's world. In the process, she finds not only a love that travels centuries but also a dangerous mystery. Deford, a novelist (Love and Infamy), NPR commentator, and longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, turns in a book that is part thriller and part romance. Cynics may quibble with his characters' ease at coping with their dual world, but they will admit that Nina, Bucky, and their predicament are intriguing. A light, enjoyable read. Devon Thomas, Hass Assoc., Ann Arbor, MI Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

[FRONT]?If true love can travel across time, can true evil be far behind?When the beautiful Dr. Nina Winstonís patient Bucky Buckingham reveals his secret to her, she has to doubt him. Reincarnation? True love across four centuries? But Nina is fascinated and lets herself be drawn into the charming and vulnerable Buckyís tale and into his life. Through hypnotherapy, she meets his former identity, and in real life, she meets his former paramour. If Bucky did live before, is Constance Rawlings his reincarnated lover? A dangerous search begins for the truth behind predestined love, and Nina is caught in the middle of soaring passions and raging jealousies.Peter Paul Rubensís painting, Venus and Adonis, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the inspiration for this fast-paced thriller set alternately between the seventeenth century in Antwerp and the present day in New York. A novel of intrigue and suspense, The Other Adonis is a tale of true love and murder, a mystery that takes the reader back in time to another world, with a resolution that will delight romantics and turn skeptics into believers.[BACK]?Frank Defordís work can be found across a broad range of genres. He has written twelve books on many subjects. Two of them, Everybodyís All-American and Alex: The Life of a Child, were made into movies. Mr. Deford has also won many honors as a magazine writer and is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio for twenty years. On television, where he is now a correspondent for RealSports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, he has won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. This is his seventh novel. Mr. Deford resides in Connecticut with his wife, Carol.

From the Back Cover

[FRONT]?If true love can travel across time, can true evil be far behind?When the beautiful Dr. Nina Winstonís patient Bucky Buckingham reveals his secret to her, she has to doubt him. Reincarnation? True love across four centuries? But Nina is fascinated and lets herself be drawn into the charming and vulnerable Buckyís tale and into his life. Through hypnotherapy, she meets his former identity, and in real life, she meets his former paramour. If Bucky did live before, is Constance Rawlings his reincarnated lover? A dangerous search begins for the truth behind predestined love, and Nina is caught in the middle of soaring passions and raging jealousies.Peter Paul Rubensís painting, Venus and Adonis, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the inspiration for this fast-paced thriller set alternately between the seventeenth century in Antwerp and the present day in New York. A novel of intrigue and suspense, The Other Adonis is a tale of true love and murder, a mystery that takes the reader back in time to another world, with a resolution that will delight romantics and turn skeptics into believers.[BACK]?Frank Defordís work can be found across a broad range of genres. He has written twelve books on many subjects. Two of them, Everybodyís All-American and Alex: The Life of a Child, were made into movies. Mr. Deford has also won many honors as a magazine writer and is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio for twenty years. On television, where he is now a correspondent for RealSports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, he has won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. This is his seventh novel. Mr. Deford resides in Connecticut with his wife, Carol.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It was not spring fever that troubled Nina this day. She had lived most of her life in New York, where spring, at its best, came only in fits and starts. This year, it didn't even seem that it would ever settle in―and here it was, well into May. Rather, Nina was distracted by something real.Somebody, she knew, was checking up on her. There had been too many odd calls, improper queries; too often, she had even felt that somebody was watching her, and―who knows?―maybe even following her. To this point, yes, Nina had been more curious than fearful. Still....She swung her feet from off her desk and tried again to apply herself to the task at hand, which was the folder that lay where her feet had momentarily rested. It was even more difficult for Dr. Winston to concentrate because her next patient bored her so. Well, he bored her as a patient. As company, he was quite diverting―Mr. Floyd R. Buckingham. Call me Bucky. Everyone does.Bucky. What a perfectly awful thing to be called by everyone. By anyone. Worse, every time that Nina had met with him―three fifty-minute hours' worth―she had learned nothing about him. As absolutely professional as Nina had tried to be, using every standard procedure, her sessions with Bucky were more cocktail conversation than psychiatric probing.But, forcing herself once more, Nina opened Buckingham's file and reread it."Mr. Buckingham speaks vaguely of doubts and fears, of midlife crisis, and other blurry concerns, which he does not articulate clearly. He is expansive―garrulous, really―in talking all around himself, but is unable (or unwilling) to explain quite what it is that he thinks is bothering him. Perhaps he needs time to get comfortable with me."Curiously, apropos of nothing, he did ask me once if I 'did' hypnosis. He was pleased to hear me respond in the affirmative, but displeased when I told him that I'd learned hypnotism from a dentist―rather than from some Svengali. I explained, then, how hypnotism was more about dealing with pain than power, which irritated him some. But, soon enough, B recovered his suburban savoir faire and was again more engaging than forthcoming. Drat."However, there was a certain law of inversion that always worried Nina. Invariably, those patients who came to her all flap-gum, babbling from the start, had the least to reveal. Meanwhile, the reticent ones, like Bucky, might well be keeping the lid on the most painful anguish. Nina could not forget, either, his reaction whenever she felt as if she had zeroed in on something sensitive. Then, his eyes would go vacant, even as he maintained a smile and kept on talking. It was, she thought, as if he was lost in some sweet, private reverie―prouder still that he could enjoy this intimacy even as he kept on giving Nina a line. She had even coined a word for this response: "buckysmirking." All one word. "Buckysmirking." But it wasn't funny to Nina. It was maddening. Even a little eerie. And it was why she didn't quite yet want to give up on him.So, she would see if she could call the smooth-tongued Mr. Buckingham's bluff. Nina buzzed her secretary. "All right, Roseanne, send him in." And Floyd Buckingham promptly entered, as jaunty as ever. He had a daisy in his lapel, which, although a new touch, was certainly in keeping. He bounded across the room in his long strides, reached across the desk, and gaily cried out "Nina!" as he handed her a copy of Summer Sailing that was fresh off the presses, freighted with shiny advertisements.Nina thanked him. "I like the boutonniere, Mr. Buckingham," she added."Tut, tut, Nina, we agreed: first-name basis.""First name at the couch, but Mister and Doctor at the desk. And, Mr. Buckingham, sit down here." Nina gestured to the chair across from her. Bucky, taken aback at this formality, even a bit chagrined, accepted the seat reluctantly. Nina, for her part, sat down too. "Look," she began, venturing firmness across the desk, "this just isn't working."Predictably, Bucky tried to interrupt her, but Nina simply held up a hand and proceeded. "I do look forward to your appointments, Mr. Buckingham. I've always heard that the men from UVA were good company, and you have certainly held up that standard. But we're not just here for a tête-à-tête.""I know," he said somewhat sheepishly."Oh? Sometimes I get the impression that I'm just another client of yours, that you're, uh―""Bullshitting? You're very perceptive doctor. I'm sorry, but I haven't, uh, well, I haven't altogether leveled with you.""All right, what haven't you told me? I mean, besides everything.""Well, two things.""And you're prepared now to let me in on these two things?" He nodded almost solemnly. "All right, and how would you characterize these two things?""Well, one is just very important. Huge." He paused then, pondering.So Nina asked, "And number two?""Strange. Number two is the strangest thing you've ever heard.""I've heard a lotta strange things in this job.""Not this strange. I'll bet.""All right," Nina said. "Then let's start with number one." She beckoned him to move to the corner, to the couch, which was familiar territory for them, but the ambiance now was suddenly new and different.

About the Author

Frank Deford’s work can be found across a broad range of genres. He has written twelve books on many subjects. Two of them, Everybody’s All-American and Alex: The Life of a Child, were made into movies. Mr. Deford has also won many honors as a magazine writer and is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio for twenty years. On television, where he is now a correspondent for RealSports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, he has won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. This is his seventh novel. Mr. Deford resides in Connecticut with his wife, Carol.

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