A readable, highly charged amalgam of erotic action and suspense headlined by a likable, compassionate exotic performer with...
Dual-authored debut fiction about a young but seasoned stripper navigating the Las Vegas strip club circuit.
Strong, sexy African-American stripper Melissa Masters, 23, works the Stilettos strip club patrons like a pro, but the dancing lifestyle is anything but glitzy. Now in her fourth year at the club, Masters (her stage name is “Sapphire”) recalls the day, having just turned 21, she left Buffalo, N.Y., for the “fantasy and lights of Las Vegas.” Those days of innocence long gone, she now must contend with exhaustive hours spent lap-dancing rich, pushy, strange men while fending off the sexual advances of Stilettos’ sleazy, arrogant general manager, Scott. Her personal life is also messy thanks to Spider, a smooth operator on the Vegas scene; she falls for Spider, and he fathers their daughter, Christina. The authors amp up the melodrama after Christina is removed from Sapphire’s care, Sapphire doesn’t excommunicate Spider altogether, until she discovers that he’s already married with two teenage children. A hasty marriage to a wealthy, aging retiree named Tony temporarily satiates Sapphire, but soon, she longs for Spider’s bad-boy tough love and a chance to rat out Stilettos’ shady management to the FBI. Complementing the fast-moving storyline are pages of fascinating insider industry secrets, such as a dancer’s sartorial requirements, the prevalence of police trouble and dirty details of the strip club circuit, all culled from co-author Diamond’s seven years as a Vegas stripper. Toward the book’s conclusion, Diamond’s intentions to educate, not patronize, the women working within the lucrative strip club world and challenge the preconceived notions associated with it are discreetly communicated through Sapphire. Diamond and McGann compile a rousing, spicy brew of sex, love and intrigue with a cliffhanger ending foretelling more Sapphire adventures to come.
A readable, highly charged amalgam of erotic action and suspense headlined by a likable, compassionate exotic performer with a heart of gold.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1493105472
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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