Lethal Seduction

July 3, 2000
Destined for bestsellerdom, Collins's latest is a typically steamy, fast-paced tale that skips from the glitz and excitement of New York's fast lane to the high-stakes, celebrity-rich world of Las Vegas. Magazine journalist Madison Castelli, first spotted in Collins's LA Connections series, is featured, disenchanted with men but still hopeful she'll find love one day. Her unhappy childhood is detailed after her mother is murdered, and she discovers unpleasant truths about her past, including that her "perfect" father is married to the mob. Meanwhile, Madison's best friend, Jamie Nova, an interior designer, suspects that her husband is having an affair. And New York soap opera star Dexter Falcon is trying to rekindle excitement in his marriage to Rosarita, the spoiled daughter of a construction business mogul. Unbeknownst to Dexter, Rosarita is sleeping with Joel Blaine, the son of a real estate billionaire, and scheming to end her marriage in hopes of hooking up with Blaine. The latter, typical of the perverse, two-dimensional characters in Collins's world, likes kinky sex in public and craves drop-dead gorgeous model Carrie Hanlon. Though her sex scenes border on sleaze, Collins injects plenty of glamour into this page-flipping tale by peopling her fictional world with real-life celebrities, outfitting her characters in the appropriate designer clothing and mentioning the hottest restaurants du jour. Agent, Morton Janklow. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; major promo.

Madison Castelli writes biographical sketches for a fancy Manhattan magazine, Natalie anchors a California news program, and Jamie is unhappy in her romantic marriage. When Madison discovers her father has a secret past, she seeks to learn all, but everything goes wrong (with a lot of help from other extraneous characters). Carrington MacDuffie follows the lust-filled characters; he remains unfazed by the explicit, crude language that accompanies every sex scene. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine