The Model Man (Zebra Debut) [Paperback]

Genie Davis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zebra Debut | Publication Date: January 1, 2006

So she's taken some stuff nobody will miss. Pretended to be a producer to get into a party. And used her acting skills currently not being used on movie screens across America to impersonate a psychic so she and her best friend Louie can afford the occasional rosemary chicken with new potatoes. But really, who in L.A. plays it totally straight? Except now, some gorgeous guy with well fitting jeans, a Texas drawl, and a badge thinks she's the real deal, and he wants her to "read" a crime scene to help with his investigation. Holy sugar.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Can a cop and a con find true love together? In Davis' romantic mystery romp, they can, especially since neither is what he or she seems, which isn't unusual in Hollywood. In her guise as a psychic, Christy is waiting for the purchaser of some stolen champagne when gorgeous Joe Richter, declaring himself a homicide detective, arrives and asks for help. Together they drive up to the exclusive Colony so Christy can go through the vacant home of a dead former male model. Christy fakes a psychic reading, and through clever questioning and observations gets some important information out of Joe. Then, after she is attacked in her apartment and the perpetrator is found later with his hands cut off, the local police insist that there is no detective named Joe Richter. Davis' romantic suspense is truly a find. The protagonists are interesting; their love affair is convincing; Christy's best friend, Louie, is a delight; and the well-crafted mystery is as entertaining as one of Stephen J. Cannell's television shows. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Genie Davis is an award winning screen and television writer as well as a published novelist.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082177977X
• ISBN-13: 978-0821779774
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,288,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Genie Davis is a produced screen and television writer. Her work spans a variety of genres from supernatural thriller to romantic drama, family, teen, and comedy. She's worked on projects with companies as diverse as Smith-Hemion Productions, Wild at Heart Films, Craven/Maddalena Films, and Craig Anderson Productions. She's written on staff for ABC-TV's Port Charles; written, produced, and directed reality programming and documentaries for The Learning Channel, PBS, and HGTV, as well as numerous television commercials and corporate videos. She's directed such notable corporate films as "Santa Goes Shopping at Frederick's of Hollywood" and "Let's Watch the Big Metal Machine Parts go Up and Down For Twenty Minutes While the Boring Guy Says Stuff." Her novels include the noir flavored rom/suspense mass market titles, The Model Man, and Five O'Clock Shadow both from Kensington Zebra; the erotic novella Rodeo Man in Kensington Aphrodesia's The Cowboy collection released under the name Nikki Alton, and the literary fiction Dreamtown from small press Fiction Works. Also check out her Amazon Short "The Girl and the Gun."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, was this fun!, December 25, 2005

By 

Michelle "Reads A Lot" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Model Man (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

I didn't know quite what to expect from this book, but it blew my mind, honestly. It's so well written and has a real edge to it. It's like a female Elmore Leonard only with a stronger romantic hook. Part comic thriller, part romantic suspense, part - I don't know. The characters really ring true and it's just a blast from start to finish. Definitely not just genre. It's funny, sexy, gritty, yet stays kind and true to the characters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, January 17, 2006

By 

Tri Tran - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Model Man (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

Funny, ironic, slightly whacky view of LA lifestyle
mated with an appealingly hot romance. The fat
ex-model is an hilarious, sad, and believable villian.
The con-artist/Hollywood setting manages to put a
fresh spin on a scene that's been done before. And
lurking beneath the surface there's a sense of
heartbreak and hope that you don't often find in
bright adventures like this. Read it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great beach read!, June 16, 2006

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Model Man (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

Christy Harris is a scam artist. She came to California years ago as an aspiring actress, but she soon found that she wasn't making money waiting on tables. She and friend Louie figured out that together they were able to make money a much faster way, setting up all sorts of scams and not getting caught. Christy's forte is the psychic route, but she's also good at stealing things, with Louie's help.

Joe, a good-looking cop from Texas, seeks out Christy the fortune-teller to help him with a case. Christy of course gets nervous that she's even talking to a cop, as she knows that eventually she is destined for some jail time. But she helps him out nevertheless, faking a psychic event when they go to house where a murder had occurred. Joe seems to buy her psychic act, which shocks Christy. She doesn't think she's that good, and besides, Joe is a policeman. At the same time, she feels a huge attraction for him, as he does for her. Not a good thing!

The two fall for each other and eventually have amazing sex in a cheesy motel. Louie is beside himself to think Christy is sleeping with a cop but Christy claims it will be just a one-time deal. She intentionally does not keep his phone number (she throws it in the trash) so she has no temptation whatsoever to call him back. What she doesn't know is that it is not the last time she'll see him.

Christy soon learns that she's now part of a big plot involving the mystery of the death of a once successful male model, Ricky LittleJohn, whose death Joe is so obsessed about solving. What Christy does not pick up on right away is that Joe's story is not exactly the truth, which is ironic since it's Christy's job to scam nearly everyone she meets. So she's in lust (or is it love?) with a man that is conning her to find information on a murder, and it is quite possible he's as good a con man as Christy.

THE MODEL MAN is a contemporary romance with lots of humor, and takes place in the world of Hollywood and wanna be actors. This book is filled with bigger than life characters who have a lot of wild and wacky adventures, definitely stuff that is over the top and not necessarily true to life. It's a great beach read, perfect for those lazy summer months. The reader will love Christy, although at times she can make one angry because of the way she lived. She was a true con-artist. Readers will also love her relationship with her best friend Louie, her gay neighbor who is very flamboyant and just as talented as she was in terms of running a good scam. This reviewer, however, had a hard time with the character of Joe. There was something about him that rubbed this reader the wrong way. He came across as a sleaze, despite the fact that there were other characters around him that were no better than he, but it was the fact that he was posing as a cop that felt all wrong. This is not saying anything against the book, but just a comment that this character could have been a more "goody two shoes" that helps save the day, but instead turns out to be not so perfect.

The book reads like a Hollywood movie script, in that the reader will be able to easily imagine all the scenes and characters as if watching it on the big screen. This reviewer was able to picture the palm tree lined streets of Hollywood where Christy and Louie hung out, as well as envision the many Hollywood parties the two would attend (uninvited) where they would be able to steal whatever they could sell later on.


This reviewer recommends THE MODEL MAN for those looking for a fun read with a lot of over the top adventures. The only real flaw could be the ending, and although the author didn't rush it, it felt somewhat forced and almost unbelievable. (No plot spoilers here! It's up to the reader to discover it for herself). This reviewer gives THE MODEL MAN 3 ½ stars. - courtesy of Love Romances