The Lust Garden [Kindle Edition]

Billy Jolie (Author)

Book Description

With her perfectly tousled blonde hair and pink, pouty lips, Gianna Salvani is the girl everyone loves to hate. She has it all – fame, fortune and unrivaled beauty. But behind the seductive smile is an insecure girl who still grieves for the father she lost years ago. With a controversial new film in the can, and the release of her debut album looming, Gianna is poised to take center stage. But when a shocking secret leaves her exposed, her fame will bring her face-to-face with a nightmare she never saw coming. Because lurking in the shadow of her spotlight is an obsessed killer with plans of his own for Gianna. Ignited by his first conquest, Gianna’s greatest admirer begins a brutal hunt to claim her as the ultimate trophy in a string of look-alike murders. Motivated by envy, he forces himself into her seemingly untainted world and threatens to ruin everything she’s built by revealing a hidden tie that binds them. And if you knew his secret, you’d want to kill her too.

Product Details

• File Size: 1068 KB
• Print Length: 312 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: WingSpan Press (March 28, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004UC6FN0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,031 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastically enthralling! April 27, 2011

By Kiki Deister

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Lust Garden is the debut novel from author Billy Jolie, and it does not read at all like a first work. It was fiercely engaging, with a fantastic story and fabulous characters. Although set amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and New York, it is definately not a lighthearted, fluffy, "celeb" tale. It is dark, gritty, and graphic, at it's heart a story of dysfunction of all kinds. Drugs, sex, family issues,... you name it. So many times, the grittiness and graphicness of a story can be overdone, overpowering the characters and the thrust of the plot. This was very much not the case. It was never gratuitous, always perfectly in keeping with the story line and the characters. It has a wondrfully constructed plot, the rawness of some of the scenes really adding to the suspense that was built throughout the story, There were a ton of unexpected twists and turns that kept me completely on the edge and guessing. This book has all of the necessary elements for a really great thriller.

In my opinion, the characters really drove the story, Jolie's ability to construct perfectly three-dimensional characters is amazing. They were all completely over the top, living a lifestyle that most of us can barely imagine living for ourselves. But the author was able to make them come to life, giving them a depth and personality that made them completely believable. They each had their own secrets, their own issues, their own stories, Those individual stories wound in and around each other throughout the story and added to the suspense and anticipation of the book.

I generally don't comment much on cover art, as I am a big believer in judging a work by the story and not the cover. But sometimes you come across a cover that is just stunning or that just strikes you. The cover of The Lust Garden did both. I love the fact that it is simple and beautiful in every way,... with just that smear of blood across her face. I just find that to be visually exciting. I love that it fits the story perfectly.

I admit I was excited to read this, especially when I realized that the author spent much of his youth near my hometown. There is a bit of northern NY in the book, an integral part that drew much of the mystery together. I highly recommend you purchase this book and read it! A FAB-U-LOUS read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Self-published dreck April 15, 2013

By Wolfsegg

Format:Paperback

Subliterary trash from semi-literate scenster. But you can learn a lot from bad writing. Mr. Jollie needs to take a beginning class in fiction to learn the basic skills of the craft: plot, narrtive, and characterization.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lust Garden review July 17, 2012

By Margaret (Literary Chanteuse)

Format:Paperback

You are thrown instantly into the very real and raunchy side of the entertainment industry. Following an actor, a model and a actress/singer into the depths of drugs, sex, affairs, vengence, heartbreak and all the while the paparazzi are clicking their cameras. Many of these young stars become overwhelmed by the limelight and have come from messed up situations to being with so not surprisngly they do not handle the pressure of fame very well. Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose who's fan obsesssion will take him closer to his goal of obtaining his ultimate prize.

Very well written the author exposes that seedy Hollywood scene extremely well. The serial killer brings the classic elements of a murder and mystery together while adding to the overall story in surpising ways. The cover is beautiful but do not expect a pretty version of events.

I was provided a review copy courtesy of Promotional Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.

More About the Author

BILLY JOLIE graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Mass Communications, and lives in the Tampa Bay area.

Contact the author:

www.twitter.com/billyjolie
www.facebook.com/billyjolie
www.myspace.com/billyjolie