Trashed
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4.3 • 7 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Edgar Award finalist Alison Gaylin, who brought readers “something completely different” (Chicago Tribune) with Hide Your Eyes and You Kill Me, presents a brand-new novel of suspense set against the surreal backdrop of contemporary Hollywood—where a trashing in the tabloids can make you or break you, and dirty little secrets are the lifeblood of the media machine.
Working for an infamous scandal sheet, Simone Glass is learning what they didn’t teach her at Columbia’s journalism school: Always wear gloves when digging through the trash, never give your real name, and, above all, trust no one. . . .
Since nobody will speak to The Asteroid on the record, Simone is forced to go undercover—posing as a cater-waiter at a gala benefit, hiding out in a Dumpster in hopes of hearing incriminating conversation, even sneaking onto the set of the hot new TV series Suburban Indiscretions.
When a soap opera star commits suicide, and her emotionally unstable assistant insists someone killed her, Simone sets out to uncover the real, untold story. But before she can put the pieces together, a stripper with sordid celebrity connections is found drenched in her own blood . . . and even Simone’s most reliable sources begin acting paranoid. Suddenly a savage killer is ripping Tinseltown apart and handing Simone her most lethal leads ever. Can she expose the murderer before it’s too late—or will she become just the latest casualty of Hollywood’s brutal deceptions?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gaylin's giddy hardcover debut follows young reporter Simone Glass on her short but shocking infiltration of Hollywood's sleazy side. Simone, a recent Columbia journalism grad, heads for L.A. to work for a slick weekly that goes out of business almost immediately. She grabs a position at the L.A. bureau of the trashy tabloid Asteroid and plunges into the world of celebrity gossip. Reluctantly rummaging through TV superstar Emerald Deegan's garbage, Simone discovers a shoe belonging to the recently murdered comeback kid Nia Lawson. Then Emerald becomes the next victim, and one of her bracelets is found in another future victim's trash. When Simone carelessly wears the bracelet to a party, she catches the killer's eye as a potential target. Gaylin (You Kill Me) has tremendous fun with stereotypical tabloid fodder, from a closeted gay superstar and a desperate, underage stripper to wild Hollywood parties and car chases. The hectic pace and huge cast of extras keep the reader guessing right to the end.
