DOUBLE EXPOSURE

by Stephen Collins ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 6, 1998

Second suspenser, all quite plausible until the end, by actor/novelist Collins (Eye Contact, 1994), who plays Ashley Wilkes in the TV miniseries Scarlett. Journalist Joseph McBride, a syndicated TV critic, finds himself alone in his new condo after his fiancÆ’e, Mary Beth, dumps him for an editor at Simon & Schuster. Joe, a deeply attentive father, has a five-year old daughter, Mollie, with his divorced wife Gayle. Meanwhile, his tenth-floor apartment looks down on the kitchen of an adjoining ninth-floor apartment, and he becomes obsessed with the beautiful woman who lingers at the window, at times with little on. Joe is supposed to be watching cassettes of advance TV shows and meeting deadlines, but the window proves too alluring. Then the woman--knowing that he's been watching her--invites him down for hot milk and honey; just as they are having serious foreplay, her twin sister walks in drunk and passes out fully dressed. The energetic couple ignore her. When an exhausted Joe goes back to his condo, he discovers a half-clothed Mary Beth, who has changed her mind and returned to him. What to do? Then he learns that ""Amy Goode"" is not really his neighbor's name, as she says, but rather is that of a female cop in Queens, whom she pretends to be. Joe's suddenly complex life gets more complicated when Brutus Clay, a multimillionaire who wants to start up a new TV channel devoted entirely to critics, begins courting Joe. Will Joe go along with having sexpot Sandy Moss as his cohost? Will he stay with Mary Beth? Before he can decide, Mollie is kidnapped during his weekend custody, and it's soon evident who has her. Thrilling this is not, but it is richly entertaining, especially in its wry portrait of broadcast television. Only that forcibly twisted climax rings false.

Pub Date: May 6, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998

Categories: FICTION