After a brief detour to New York City for Milk in My Coffee, Eric Jerome Dickey returns to Southern California for his fourth multi-track African American love story. The main story is a "he said, she said" affair between Stephan Mitchell, a well-to-do young software designer who's determined not to let any one woman get in the way of his good time, and Chanté Marie Ellis, who's decided to start turning the tables on men who try to play her for a fool. From now on, she declares, "A dog gets what a dog gets... dogged." Dickey makes their road to romance extremely rocky; in addition to sorting out their own feelings for each other, both Stephan and Chanté have to contend with exes who have just gotten out of their lives. Meanwhile, Stephan's best friend, Darnell, is having problems with his marriage: he wants to be a writer, but his wife insists that he put aside the "hobby" to pay more attention to her. When he meets Chanté's friend Tammy, an up-and-coming actress-singer who not only understands Darnell's artistic passion but encourages him, his commitment to marital fidelity is pushed to the limit.

As always, Dickey shows that he's on top of the current scene, peppering his characters' lives with the latest in black fashion and culture (if you ever find yourself driving in the Los Angeles area, you'll know exactly what your radio presets should be). Although the ending might be a little too neatly wrapped up, you'll never know before you get there whether the next chapter's going to contain romance, comedy, heartache--or maybe a little of each. Dickey's at the top of his form in Cheaters, establishing yet another credential for his status at the top of the contemporary urban romance heap. --Ron Hogan


From Publishers Weekly
Dickey (Milk in My Coffee) takes on the subjects of love, sex, marriage and infidelity among Los Angeles's young, upscale African-American community. In this audio version, the author's reading is supported by male and female performers who play out specific character roles. This fits the multiple points of view of the novel, which unfolds serially through self-contained "he said/she said" vignettes. Stephen, a software designer, is a ladies' man who uses deceit to play the field (his motivations, stemming from childhood experiences, are given through flashbacks). Chant?, one of the objects of his affection, gets wise to Stephen's ways and schemes to "dog" him back. Darnell, a married lawyer who yearns to become a novelist, provides Dickey an outlet to explain his own reasons for becoming a writer. Because the action is played out in short, charged scenes, it works smartly as audio drama, highly entertaining in its sharply observed turns of dialogue. Based on the 1999 Dutton hardcover. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In this hot, sexy, and funny novel, Dickey returns with the same wit and honesty that won him acclaim in Milk in My Coffee (LJ 10/15/98). This time he explores the singles scene for Black Urban Professionals (Buppies) in Southern California. His main characters, who narrate the story, are extremely believable, and the situations they end up in are all ones that many of Dickey's readers will recognize. For example, Stephan (the leading male protagonist) is a computer programmer who switches women as fast as he does lanes on the freeway, and when he finds one that he really likes, the skeletons in his closet begin to fall out, bone by bone. Stephan is forced to face up to his past, which had fueled his behavior, and come clean with the woman he most wants to be with even at the risk of losing her. Cheaters not only makes readers examine their own behavior but keeps them laughing while doing so. Dickey improves his craft with each book, and this one is sure to do well. Highly recommended.-AEmily Jones, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Dickey's three central characters--Chante, a single accountant, Stephan, a single firmware designer, and Darnell, a married attorney and aspiring author--are struggling with love. Chanteis looking for the perfect man and with each relationship finds that the faithful and worthy are missing. Stephan's memories of his father's words and deeds as a lady's man distort his expectations of developing and maintaining a healthy relationship. He matures to acknowledge that relationships require work and fidelity. Darnell's desire to become a writer is threatened by his wife's insistence that he concentrate on his career and not on his writing "hobby." Another woman provides the attention and support he desires but at a cost. These characters' lives become entangled as each deals with feelings and attitudes while learning to appreciate and be appreciated according to new definitions of love and fidelity. This is the most ambitious novel of the best-selling author of Milk in My Coffee , and it truly showcases an African American male voice in a genre dominated by women. Lillian Lewis


From Kirkus Reviews
Dickeys fourth novel easily fulfills the expectations created by his earlier work (Milk in My Coffee, 1998, etc.) and introduces a fresh sobriety to his talent for dialogue and character in a tale of duplicitous love. His people are African-American Los Angelenos in their late 20's with advanced degrees, hard bodies, and substantial sexual appetites, making for plenty of bedroom gymnastics as the novel develops. Stephan, a software designer, lives by the creed his father taught him: Find em, Fool em, Fuck em, Forget em. Through the course of the story, he applies this quaint adage to Brittany, Toyomi, and Samantha, but is stopped cold by Chante, an accountant with a major firm, who captures his body and heart. The sex is great, but the two carry healing hearts into their affair, which makes for Dickeys most subtly written pages. The marriage of Darnell and Dawn, friends of Stephans, is a close second: a lawyer with the FAA, Darnell spends his evenings tapping out a novel while Dawn, hoping for a child, resents the intrusion of her husbands hobby into her plans. With Dawns indifference to his art, Darnell is deeply attracted to Tammy, a friend of Chantes. In Stephans life, Luke remains at the periphery, haunted by dreams of the aborted children that line the trail of Stephans squiring; while from the sidelines of Chantes life, the celibate and insecure Karen lobs acid comments on her friends sexual lives. In this dense and smoothly done work, each of the characters remains distinct, and heat is generated less by the crackling dialogue than by the inevitable clashes between their ideas about love, loyalty, and commitment. A thoughtful step forward for its author, Dickeys story depicts love as a world of hurt broken up by the hesitant joys availablehere and thereto the experienced heart. (Literary Guild and Doubleday alternate selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Stephan Mitchell and his best friends Jake and Darnell are living well with good jobs, fine clothes and beckoning futures. For Stephan and Jake, who attract plenty of beautiful sisters, variety is the spice of life. But Darnell is different. He has kept his marriage vows despite some rough going - until he meets a woman who understands his dreams. Chante Mane Ellis and her best friends Karen and Tammy are true soul sisters. But when Chante runs into Stephan - again - at a nightclub, it could be kismet. Maybe this time she can lose her heart without getting it trampled on. While Jake plays the field and Darnell struggles with temptation, Stephan starts seeing his life - past and present - more clearly. And as the price of playing the game and paying the consequences starts crashing down around them all, they discover what happens when the game stops.

SYNOPSIS

Cheaters, Eric Jerome Dickey's latest exploration of affairs of the heart, begins in familiar territory yet ultimately develops into an unusual, sharp, and nuanced portrait of love lost and found. A large cast of upwardly mobile 20-something African Americans populates the novel. For them, airy southern California is a land of obvious pleasures: fancy cars, beautiful condos, and sleek hangouts. Regrettably, such pleasures are temporary, for theirs is also a world marred by duplicitous love affairs and betrayed

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Dickey (Milk in My Coffee) takes on the subjects of love, sex, marriage and infidelity among Los Angeles's young, upscale African-American community. In this audio version, the author's reading is supported by male and female performers who play out specific character roles. This fits the multiple points of view of the novel, which unfolds serially through self-contained "he said/she said" vignettes. Stephen, a software designer, is a ladies' man who uses deceit to play the field (his motivations, stemming from childhood experiences, are given through flashbacks). Chant , one of the objects of his affection, gets wise to Stephen's ways and schemes to "dog" him back. Darnell, a married lawyer who yearns to become a novelist, provides Dickey an outlet to explain his own reasons for becoming a writer. Because the action is played out in short, charged scenes, it works smartly as audio drama, highly entertaining in its sharply observed turns of dialogue. Based on the 1999 Dutton hardcover. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In this hot, sexy, and funny novel, Dickey returns with the same wit and honesty that won him acclaim in Milk in My Coffee (LJ 10/15/98). This time he explores the singles scene for Black Urban Professionals (Buppies) in Southern California. His main characters, who narrate the story, are extremely believable, and the situations they end up in are all ones that many of Dickey's readers will recognize. For example, Stephan (the leading male protagonist) is a computer programmer who switches women as fast as he does lanes on the freeway, and when he finds one that he really likes, the skeletons in his closet begin to fall out, bone by bone. Stephan is forced to face up to his past, which had fueled his behavior, and come clean with the woman he most wants to be with even at the risk of losing her. Cheaters not only makes readers examine their own behavior but keeps them laughing while doing so. Dickey improves his craft with each book, and this one is sure to do well. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/99.]--Emily Jones, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Dickey's fourth novel easily fulfills the expectations created by his earlier work (Milk in My Coffee, 1998, etc.) and introduces a fresh sobriety to his talent for dialogue and character in a tale of duplicitous love. His people are African-American Los Angelenos in their late 20's with advanced degrees, hard bodies, and substantial sexual appetites, making for plenty of bedroom gymnastics as the novel develops. Stephan, a software designer, lives by the creed his father taught him: "Find 'em, Fool 'em, Fuck 'em, Forget 'em." Through the course of the story, he applies this quaint adage to Brittany, Toyomi, and Samantha, but is stopped cold by Chante, an accountant with a major firm, who captures his body and heart. The sex is great, but the two carry healing hearts into their affair, which makes for Dickey's most subtly written pages. The marriage of Darnell and Dawn, friends of Stephan's, is a close second: a lawyer with the FAA, Darnell spends his evenings tapping out a novel while Dawn, hoping for a child, resents the intrusion of her husband's "hobby" into her plans. With Dawn's indifference to his art, Darnell is deeply attracted to Tammy, a friend of Chante's. In Stephan's life, Luke remains at the periphery, haunted by dreams of the aborted children that line the trail of Stephan's squiring; while from the sidelines of Chante's life, the celibate and insecure Karen lobs acid comments on her friends' sexual lives. In this dense and smoothly done work, each of the characters remains distinct, and heat is generated less by the crackling dialogue than by the inevitable clashes between their ideas about love, loyalty, and commitment. A thoughtful step forward for itsauthor, Dickey's story depicts love as a world of hurt broken up by the hesitant joys available—here and there—to the experienced heart. (Literary Guild and Doubleday alternate selection; author tour)