The Deal: About Face

Too much recapping of 2008’s The Deal, the first book in Gittlin’s series featuring commercial real estate broker Jonah Gray, hampers this sequel. Gray has survived attempts on his life, escaped New York City one step ahead of the law, undergone a face lift, and moved to Amsterdam, where he works for the Dutch real estate firm de Bont Beleggings. A few years later, Gray returns to New York to complete a lucrative commercial building deal while searching for his lost love, the beautiful Perry York, and her son, Max. The meandering plot includes missing Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, secret messages, Russian royalty, and a homicidal half-brother, but none of this is nearly as interesting as Gittlin’s depiction of the high-level real estate business. The tough-guy action ends abruptly, to be continued in the third installment. (Mar.)