From Publishers Weekly
Sex over substance seems to be the modus operandi in this racy debut about a New York actress and her non-stop series of high-risk flings. Stage and screen actor Collins frequently aims to include some humor between the steamy boudoir episodes; while some scenes prove amusing, others border on self-parody. The novel's opening chapters are almost offensive, as heroine Nicolette "Nick" Stallings ("with a body that might bring a swimsuit issue to mind") seduces three men, all in a night's work, and then brags about scoring "a triple." One of her conquests, a sadomasochistic lawyer, commits suicide in Nick's apartment under circumstances that make the death look like murder. Ensuing events deal with Nick's attempts to clear herself and come to grips with her addictive tendencies toward exhibitionism and seduction. Unfortunately, Nick is a cliched, thinly drawn character who comes off as an empty, pathetic sexual predator and willing victim. Moreover, the story line lacks the kind of tension and drama that Collins will presumably bring to his role as Ashley Wilkes in the upcoming TV miniseries Scarlett .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
Actress Nicolette Stallings is a compulsive exhibitionist who in the throes of self-loathing manipulates men by leading them into sexual acts that feed her masochism. When she provides a night of uninhibited sexual fantasy for a man she picks up in a restaurant, he turns out to have more problems than she can handle, which plunges her into a frenzy of self-preservation. Teaming with memorable characters (first-time novelist Collins makes New York cabbies and doormen come alive in a few short sentences), the book is full of people who help Nick see herself for who she really is. Surviving visits to her analyst, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, her mother's compulsive soup making, the desire to self-destruct, her need to expose herself, and her disastrous approach to her career, Nick learns to meet life one day at a time and could well become the Holden Caulfield of the 1990s. This novel of one individual coming to self-awareness is a modern morality play and a rite of passage into adulthood. Actor Collins, a gifted writer, has created a perfect first novel.
--Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OhioCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
