DAZZLED

A struggling young actress can’t tell whether her closest friend is dead or alive.

Nikki Easton isn’t so much an up-and-coming actress as an up-and-going-nowhere actress. Her closest friend Darla Ward, by contrast, has recently transitioned to her first feature film. It’s the sort of thing that makes Nikki almost want to get the nose job her agent keeps insisting on. When Darla stops returning Nikki’s calls, Nikki shows up at her place and finds that it’s been tossed. A quick call to the police produces nothing. The police are more concerned, however, when four bodies turn up in an abandoned house. Nikki’s asked to come downtown to identify a young Jane Doe who may be Darla. When Nikki sees the body, it’s beaten so badly that she can’t tell whether it’s Darla, and it’s up to Darla’s brother Kyle to make the final determination that it is indeed his sister. Kyle tells Nikki that Darla got caught up in drugs with bad boy Johnny Rambla, though from what Nikki remembers, Darla wouldn’t be caught dead with that sort of Neanderthal. Nikki, who’s in shock, doesn’t know where to turn. Luckily, supportive Detective Jack Adder helps her navigate the Hollywood power plays that may explain what’s happened to her friend.

Nunes’ debut guides readers through sharp twists behind the Hollywood glitz, revealing more than some may want to know.