Jordan Harper

I enjoyed the first half of this more than the second. Mae's work for a crisis management/PR firm was really interesting, although increasingly morally dubious. Then there was Chris, an ex-police officer, whose unit had become more or less a gang in itself, and now working as a sort of enforcer for a security firm. Somehow the author made me warm to them. They gradually realize how far their employers are connected and controlling of the movie industry in LA. The second half was more of a thriller and interested me less.… (más)

A book about very powerful people. About a system that is probably not far from the truth. And yet, making the story into a thriller takes away what power the book itself may have had. The victims are just a reason for unfolding a story, not the focus of the narrative. It's about whether bad people or very bad people abuse and / or profit from them. There are no heroes in this book, the system is self-contained and self-preserving.
But: the presentation of Los Angeles and everything it has come to stand for is tremendously powerful. No need to judge or critizise, the mere details of life in L.A. are enough to unfold a city so full of misconceptions, unreasonably high expectations, greed, hopes, depravity, power and shattered dreams, that it adds to the uncanny realism of this story that would be preposterous if it happened anywhere else. This is the only place a story like this can be true. L.A. is not a setting in this book, it's a protagonist.… (más)

After her boss is gunned down at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mae Pruett, a publicist/fixer working at LA's most powerful crisis PR firm protecting the rich and depraved, decides to investigate, running afoul of the whole system.

This was a complicated story that moved at a good pace with many people who needed their illegal or immoral activities covered up. Mae liked knowing the secrets and was good at manipulating stories or the press to keep her clients out of trouble. She started questioning it all when her boss is killed. Mae and her ex-boyfriend who helps her were not likeable. Nor were all the sleazy people doing sleazy things. This story seemed similar to ones I’ve read like this and didn’t have the surprises or suspense that Harper’s book “She Rides Shotgun” had. Just a so-so read.… (más)