CHOCOLATE STAR

Copeland debuts with three rags-to-riches journeys that even when combined make up little more than a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode. All three of the African-American protagonists here are flawed. Singer Topaz Black, who began as a model, is vain, rude, and greedy—not to mention having abandoned a hardworking husband and infant son in the blink of an eye for Hollywood and the high life. Film director Gunther Lawrence started out as a self-loathing black kid in a lily-white prep school; when he strikes it rich in Hollywood, he immediately makes a point of forgetting everyone who helped him along the way. NBA star Sean ``Sylk'' Ross, meanwhile, is meant to be the good guy, but his constant praying, do-gooding, and holier-than-thou moralizing make him, if anything, even less palatable than his co-stars, who are at least frank about their selfish and ruthless behavior. Eventually, the three come together. Topaz ends up married to Gunther (who's become involved with a heavy drug scene). Before marrying, though, she'd dated Sean, whom she had hoped would introduce her to the ``right people'' (read: celebrities). Of the three, one finally dies, another is miserable and alone, the third is happier than most people have a right to be. It's all too easy, in accordance with Copeland's moral scale, to guess the outcomes—more suspense and less predictability could have offered the novel some much needed energy. The story is lacking, too, in good old-fashioned campy fun—the most important factor, after all, in any sort of Jackie Collins page-turner. The mean-spirited Topaz and Gunther are unpleasant, but not even the goody-goody Sean is appealing: in all, just plenty of glitz and three rich, unlikable people.