Customer Reviews

Exposure: A Novel

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It's hard to say if there is a "typical" Alan Russell novel. He's given us whodunits, funny mysteries, psychological thrillers, and now suspense.

To date, my favorite Russell novel was the hilarious Hotel Detective but this book is equally enjoyable but in a very different way. It's gripping and suspenseful and the kind of book you want to finish in one sitting.

Exposure gives us a very unusual hero, a paparazzo. It was fun learning about the tricks of the trade, and seeing the world through Graham Wells's eyes. I never thought I'd find myself sympathizing or empathizing with a character like this--but Russell fleshes out a very real human being who is both likeable not so likeable.

What I really liked was the triad of villians. Also, there was a lot of fascinating information about German dueling fraternities.

This book has snappy dialog, great action, and characters with legs and baggage. You don't want to miss this read.

Having read all of Alan Russell's novels, with each new one I find myself more impressed with his range. In EXPOSURE, he takes on the Russian mobsters, White House insiders and the CIA, movie stars and the paparazzi that hound them. He carries us to Rio, Paris, rural Spain, Bosnia, New York, Los Angeles and back country Ojai, and makes all those places come alive.

Graham, the paparazzo, is a complex fellow who very gradually wins our sympathy, which makes the first half of the book less compelling than the last half, when the snowballing action and the evil closing in on the characters we've begun to hurt with and pull for takes us on a wild thrill ride.

Lanie, the movie star Graham can't quite decide whether to exploit or fall for, is a charming and credibly human study in the rewards and snares of celebrity.

EXPOSURE is Russell's most ambitious story, and it succeeds remarkably well.

This is a story of mayhem, intrigue, sex, high-speed suspense, and plain old-fashioned fun. Alan Russell has a way with the turn of phrase and plot that keeps you amused, guessing, and waiting for the next morsel of wit or intrigue. He is a wonder and a man whose work is to be savored like a bite or French gourmet or a taste of exquisite wine. Truly a wonder and despite my own literary efforts, I remain envious.

Bravo! This is his best and they're all terrific. Buy this book.

Great read! I have never read anything by Alan Russell before.
I enjoyed it so much that I will read all his previous mysteries

Russell's EXPOSURE is a roller-coaster ride from Hollywood, to Rio, to Paris, and back. His paparazzo Graham Wells is a great anti-hero. The book is both literary and high octane, and it works for me on all fronts.

Don't you love it when another intelligent mystery-writer steps to the fore? I mean guys like Loren Estleman can only write so fast, and Raymond Chandler is dead. Now we have Alan Russell who does stuff with plots and language that are just delicious. The mark of truly great writing is that it is accessible at any level. Idiots can pick out the scaffolding and geniuses can tingle to the twists and double meanings. Russell hits you with things that seem obvious and then he turns them inside out. He gives you a stock scene up front and spins it into a free fall with a full range of character resolutions and a conspiracy with no bottom. He uses clichés like bait for the gullible, but when the line comes back there's always a trophy catch, even if it's a red herring. This writer is having fun. I had fun.

Begin with a Princess Di type tragedy - a spoof with an aftertaste of guilt, because Russell's tarnished protagonist is the photographer who causes the car crash to happen. Chase him halfway around the world into a net of CIA intrigue, where he's more or less blackmailed into more unsavory photography. Then let the protagonist find a "fuller exposure" than he was looking for in the tormented life of a Hollywood goddess. Yeah, here are some rays of potential redemption, as the hero turns inward. But don't try to predict Russell. And I won't wreck it for you. Read it for simple action, if you want. Or read it as animated prose full of wit and wisdom. The book is a mirror in that respect. It kind of throws your level back at you. Good books do that. Like I said, don't you love it when another intelligent mystery-writer steps up?

In the thriller Exposure, the eminently readable Alan Russell has pulled out all the stops. Excellent writing, complex characters, an intricate plot and colorful settings from Rio to Paris to Hollywood blend to form a terrific read.

The intriguing primary character is Graham Wells, a papparazzo with a secret and a conscience. The reader is pulled into Wells' personal struggle as he grapples with danger, political intrigue and the heady world of celebrity.

Whether you enjoy novels of mystery, adventure or romance, Exposure is sure to satisfy.

With Exposure, Alan Russell makes the leap from the mystery genre to thriller. His mysteries have run the gamut from comedic to police procedural to hard-boiled noir, no small feat in itself. Now he takes on the political thriller, with unexpected twists and a cast of unforgettable characters.

Graham Wells is a paparazzo and one of the best. His stalking causes the death of a beautiful English lady and the world's greatest soccer player. In an attempt at expiation, Wells becomes a pilgrim on a road to a secluded Spanish abbey and a war time photographer in Bosnia. When he returns to Los Angeles he is blackmailed into "shooting" for a rogue CIA agent.

Acting on a tip from a slightly irritated member of a Hollywood diva's inner circle, he instead stumbles upon her attempted suicide.

Russell also teaches us along the way. The reader learns about the competitive world of the paparazzi (with a nod to the origin of the word), German dueling societies, the La Brea tar pits, and a 500-mile religious pilgrimage. His trademark dialogue is crisp and witty. And, as always, for the careful reader, there are subtexts as entertaining as the main plot itself. In the world of celebrities versus their paparazzi pursuers, can anyone hold the higher moral ground?

He may be the best paparazzo in Europe for the rich and famous know that when Graham Wells sets his scope on you he gets the shot. Graham sees a monster scoop in Paris when he catches celebrity philanthropist Lady Anne Godwin with French soccer star Georges LeMoine. The couple recognizes they are spotted and take off with Graham in pursuit. However, tragedy occurs when the stars' vehicle crashes. Graham flees the scene not wanting to be part of the story especially in French court.

Graham recuperates in Los Angeles unaware that the CIA knows he was at the scene of the accident. Agent "Mr. Smith" contacts Graham in order to blackmail him into destroying selected celebrities. After wrecking a few lives, Graham concentrates on actress Lanie Byrne, but this time digresses from the plot when he saves her life following a suicide attempt. Now he is the target and his enemies seem to be everywhere.

This novel is not a rehashing of the Princess Diana tragedy though the opening act is almost identical. Instead, EXPOSURE is a powerful conspiracy book whose key is that the prime cast seems real and their actions and reactions plausible. Anyone who relishes a powerfully well-written conspiracy novel by an author who would make Earl Warren believe that an invading Cuban military force killed President Kennedy, will want to be exposed to the works of Mr. Russell.

Harriet Klausner

Looking for a read that's fast-paced,entertaining,Exposure is it. A real page-turner, I read it in an afternoon. Conflict, love story, suspense, international intrigue, a hero trapped by his own actions, someone you should hate but can't help cheering on! In Exposure Russell gives the reader a unique view into the world of paparrazzi managing to maintain his objectivity and allow his readers to make their own judgements about the professionals we hate but create.