Hollywood reporter Kieran O'Connor makes a welcome return following the Edgar-nominated debut, Tight Shot (1996). The celebrity columnist is at a definite low, serving a three-month suspension from his L.A. newspaper and living in an apartment that, damaged by an earthquake, has been condemned. He's in no shape to turn down his agent's latest project: co-writing the memoirs of a hooker who had an affair with a dead and discredited TV star named Dick Mann. The situation is rife with satirical possibilities, and Allman scores frequently. There's Kieran's pushy agent, Jocelyn, whose hard-as-nails persona masks a genuine soft spot for Kieran; Kitty Keyes, who struck it rich with Scandal, Inc., which represents only notorious celebrities; and a private hospital?"the elective-surgery capital of Southern California"?that gives posh hotels a run for their money. Kieran manages to get through a first interview with Felina Lopez, the reformed and New Age-ish hooker, and a reading of her "manuscript." But, as innocuous as the material appears, someone seems determined to keep it from being published. Soon Kieran is on the run, dodging threats and deadlines and trying to figure out who has the most to hide.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Self-confessed celebrity journalist Kieran O'Connor--officially on hiatus from his paper after characterizing a movie mogul as "vertically challenged" --is offered the chance to ghostwrite a memoir of popular sitcom star Dick Mann, recently deceased after overdosing on the latest designer drug of choice, Hot Shot. Since the memoir's "author" is Felina Lopez, an ex^-call girl who claims to have been Mann's mistress, the whole project oozes sleaze. Still, Kieran needs the money. Then Felina turns up dead, and Kieran himself starts receiving death threats. Caught between a killer who doesn't want the Mann memoir to reach print and a host of others--publishers, agents, grieving widow--who are hell-bent on cashing in as quickly as possible, Kieran hopes to extricate himself from the mess by solving the crime. A worthy successor to Tight Shot (1995), Allman's insider view of the seamier side of Hollywood is not only hip and entertaining but also has something serious to say about our insatiable hunger for tabloid thrills. Stuart Miller
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