Malicious Intent: A Hollywood Fable (Hardcover)

~ Mike Walker (Author) "BACKSTAGE in the makeup department at "E!" TV on Wilshire Boulevard, Joan Rivers fired raunchy one-liners at a pack of paparazzi; had them laughing so..." (more)
Key Phrases: lady executive, Charmain Burns, Beverly Hills, Mike Kelso (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For his first foray into fiction, National Enquirer writer Walker, author (with Faye Resnick) of Nicole Brown Simpson: Private Diary of a Life Interrupted, dreams up an over-the-top, tabloid-style thriller littered with real-life Hollywood references and thinly veiled fantasy sequences featuring recognizable characters. Hit actress Charmain Burns, the bad-girl star of TV show BevHills High, wants to punish tabloid reporter Steve Bellini after he publishes unflattering pictures of her beating a horse, but her method of retribution accidentally causes his death. The ensuing investigation drags in fashion designers, drug smugglers, a stalker called Randak 2000, who thinks he's from outer space, power brokers, CIA agents and another tabloid reporter, Cameron Tull, who eventually pieces together the life story Charmain is desperate to keep secret. The actress has good reason to fear exposure: since the day she murdered her abusive mother at age 12, she has been a magnet for crime and violence. As she works her way up from beauty queen to Hollywood star, even her one true love interest, wealthy French Creole charmer Patrick Taulere, comes to a gory end. Seducing men and women alike and armed at all times with a pistol and a straight razor, Charmain almost always gets what she wants, but as her various pursuers close in on her after Bellini's death, her lifeAand, almost as important, her Hollywood careerAhangs in the balance. She is about to be offered a lead role in a feature film, but dead bodies are piling up as fast as tabloid clippings, and a final macabre encounter with the otherworldly Randak 2000 seals her fate. The sleaze factor is high, the plot convoluted, but Walker knows his material (and his audience) as well as anyone. Literary Guild featured alternate. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Walker, a gossip columnist with the National Enquirer, presents Hollywood at its most vicious in this novel of ambition, greed, and revenge. Charmain Burns rises from Florida white trash to Hollywood stardom at an early age. Along the way, she leaves a trail of kinky sex and violence: castrations, murders, rapes. After Charmain sets in motion the accidental death of a reporter who has written an unflattering story about her, she is the object of constant surveillance by the reporter's editor and a maniac stalker. These actions come at the worst possible time, for Charmain is seeking the lead in Medusa, a film about an ambitious actress willing to kill for a prized movie role. Walker uses flashbacks to explain how Charmain got to Hollywood; and he is clearly profiling the new breed of female star--tough and business minded, prone to outrageous behavior, outspoken, and independent. But he also provides a scathing portrait of greedy, malicious reporters, directors, and agents in this intense novel about Hollywood. Vanessa Bush

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bancroft Press (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890862053
• ISBN-13: 978-1890862053
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,123,511 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gossip Guru Delivers Delicious TinselTown Tall Tale, October 12, 1999

By A Customer

I got the inside scoop on the raciest, most entertaining novel of the season. Mike Walker's Malicious Intent is a non-stop thrill ride through the dangerous and spectacular world that is Hollywood. And let me tell you, it ain't no Disneyland. Charmain Burns is a sexual predator, a vengeful starlet with a sordid past and a few secrets she doesn't want shared. Cameron Tull, a big-time Gossip guru, will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. This story sizzles with deceit and seduction -- two things Hollywood thrives on. And Mike Walker should know-- he's been a top-notch gossip reporter for years and still going strong! So put the kids to bed, slip into something slinky, and grab your copy of Malicious Intent. In Hollywood, the night is always young.

Also recommended: Jackie Collins -- Hollywood Wives Jacqueline Susann -- Valley of the Dolls Danielle Steele -- Lucky

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Negatives -- except for the Reader, December 8, 1999

By	Bruce Bortz (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can see why the National Enquirer wouldn't like this book. It tells us readers how they gather their info on the stars. I can see why Hollywood might not like it. It seems like a collection of ruthless people in a mostly unpleasant, high-stakes place. And I can see why elitist book editors would look down their noses at this book -- it's writtem after all, by a card-carrying member of the tawdry tabloids. I have no connection with those worlds. I'm just a regular reader looking for a good story, and I sure as heck found it in Malicious Intent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing -- No Mention Yet of This Book in The Natl Enquirer, December 8, 1999

By	Bruce Bortz (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been buying The National Enquirer religiously at the grocery for about seven years now, but the first I heard of Mike Walker's novel was when I heard him on "Louisiana Live" the other day. I got the book at the library, and read it in one night. National Enquirer -- why you hiding this great book under your bushel?