VIVIAN DIVINE IS DEAD

Thrills and action follow a teenage movie star as she tries to escape a shadowy figure who has threatened to kill her.

Vivian knows the threat to her life is real, since her movie-star mother was murdered just six months ago despite protection from the police, so she heads into Mexico to escape the killer. Her bus breaks down, and someone steals her handbag with her passport and money, leaving her stranded on the side of the road, in disguise but wearing Gucci sneakers. Nick, a drop-dead-handsome, English-speaking boy from the bus takes her under his wing, and they find themselves running from both the FBI and a frightening thug working for the local gangster boss. At first, Vivian acts the spoiled movie star, but as Nick ridicules her privileged outlook, she struggles to overcome it and begins to learn how real people live. Although the book contains a standard chick-lit–romance theme (why else would Nick be so gorgeous?), Sabel keeps the focus on action and does it well as Vivian tries to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. The villains seem cartoonish and the escapes impossible, but realism isn’t the point. The author also includes a goodly amount of well-written Spanish phrases, most of which she translates.

Good, escapist entertainment.