He’s pole position. She’s a pole dancer. The two of them are poles apart. Carson Matthews, the hottest driver ever to hit the MotoGP circuit, is living the carefree, celebrity lifestyle. With little to worry about other than keeping himself top of the leader board, his favourite weekend pastime is visiting a certain blonde at Angels Gentlemen’s Club. Emma Bancroft, a part-time lap dancer, is just trying to make ends meet. Her responsibilities weigh heavily on her as the does the secret she’s kept from everyone for the past two-and-a-half years.With the world’s press watching his every move, their relationship and Emma’s explosive secret can’t stay hidden for much longer…From international bestselling author Kirsty Moseley comes a tale that proves opposites really do attract.

In this thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas must solve the murder of an actress whose final role was to die for... Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she’s managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It’s a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks as though she could be her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody—drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director’s luxury building. Talented but rude and widely disliked, K.T. Harris made an embarrassing scene during dinner. Now she’s at the center of a crime scene—and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster to step into the role she was born to play: cop.

The Aldens are excited to meet their favorite celebrity—Walter the Cat, who makes the funniest videos on the Internet! And when this celebrity cat inherits a million dollars from his owner, he becomes even more famous! But someone seems to be angry about the will and is stealing things from Walter’s house. Is this cat too famous for his own good?

selection of personalized poems previously published on "The Z Channel" a blog featuring fictions and poems, blending art and life.A Psychological Thriller Short Story From Author Jason Jack(Memory Care is included in the story collection, Read My Shorts! volume 1)When memories fail us, we're a shell of our former selves. For Mrs. McMorton, her memories are life shattering! Her husband's sudden reappearance opens up old wounds she is not willing to re-live, but her faithful memory will not let her forget.Sometimes, our very own memories are too painful to escape yet too life altering to ever recover from . . .-A short story written by Author Jason Jack, a Walapie publication.-Available as physical and digital books across multiple bookstores.

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Itamar Moses has been hailed as one of America's most talented young playwrights since his critically acclaimed Bach at Leipzig debuted in 2005. In this anthology of three new plays, Moses blurs the line between fact and fiction, dramatizing today's most infamous news stories. In Back Back Back, the pressures of performance and reputation get the best of three professional baseball players when they are forced to reveal their not-so-natural secrets to winning the game. In Celebrity Row, Moses imagines what Timothy McVeigh, Ted Kaczynski, the 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, and the Latin Kings leader Luis Felipe would have philosophized about when they were inhabitants of the same maximum security prison in Colorado. Finally, in Outrage, the dangerous teacher-disciple relationship calls all of academia into question with the help of none other than Socrates and Bertolt Brecht.

When Anna Eom isn’t reading fantasy novels, she’s obsessing over her favorite K-pop group, SUPER. Each boy in the group has a different superpower, but Sungwook stands out from the crowd with his super-speed and super-strength, not to mention his super-hotness.The day that SUPER’s latest music video drops, Anna’s mom does the worst thing imaginable and cuts the wi-fi to make her clean house instead. All because some old family friends are visiting them from Korea. Not only are the almost-strangers cutting her time short with her favorite K-pop group, but she knows she’s going to be thrown together with a boy she only remembers as a bully.Caleb might be her age, but the last time she saw him ten years ago he stole her precious Disney princess necklace. What’s worse is Anna’s mom has threatened to clear her bookshelves if she doesn’t greet the old friends at the door with a fragile vase as a gift.Anna complies,...

“My specialité. A body in the library." So exclaims Agatha Mallowan, better known as Agatha Christie, to her neighbor Bette Davis at the discovery of the corpse of famous archaeologist (and notorious egoist) Virgil Wynn. Bette has rented Virgil's museum-like mansion in London for a few months of relaxation while her Hollywood lawyers renegotiate her contract, but instead of peace and quiet, she gets embroiled in murder.Bette stumbles headlong into the bitter—and now deadly—Wvnn family feud, complete with a cast of characters only George Baxt could create. Mabel, the domineering mother, still interferes although she’s been dead for years, as her husband. Sir Roland, knows only too well. Perhaps he has taken Virgil's success as an archaeologist and as Mabel’s favorite too personally. Virgil's siblings. Anthea. an unbalanced spinster who writes truly blank verse, and Oscar, who has dedicated himself to cacophonous musical compositions that will never see publication, have begrudged Virgil everything from his lion’s share of their mother’s attention to his wealth, which was their sole support.Where are Bette and Agatha to turn for the solution to a mystery already too close to home? Toss into the mix an overly devoted maid, a beguiling medium whose seances are to die for, a curse from the tomb of an Egyptian queen, a flirtatious police inspector, and a pinch of arsenic—not to mention a host of dead bodies both new and mummified. Only the grand dame of mystery and the sultry starlet of the silver screen could solve the ease! Named “one of the finest of modern satirists” by Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers. George Baxt lives in New York Citv. The Bette Davis Murder Case is his ninth celebrity mystery, following The Mae West Murder Case and The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case.

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"A clever plot, witty innuendo, and plenty of the Hollywood greats for company." - Library JournalAs Gone With the Wind approaches release, all the stars but Clark Gable prepare to head for Atlanta for the big premiere. Clark and his wife, Carole Lombard, are too distressed to celebrate the opening of the biggest movie of his career because Lydia Austin, a young actress and a protege of Carole's, is missing. In fact, kidnapping paranoia is sweeping through Hollywood, and even with body-building bodyguards like the two Clark has hired to protect Carole, no one feels safe. But Carole is not a dame to take such threats lying down. Convinced that they can help, she and Clark set themselves up as amateur sleuths. Of course, there are plenty of other celebrities in the mix: W.C. Fields alternates between anxiety over the kidnappings and trying to convince David O. Selznick that he should play Rhett Butler, and Groucho Marx also gets serious (just barely) long...

“Goodness, what diamonds you have!”Mae smiled. “Honey, goodness had nothin’ to do with it.” The year is 1936, and Mae West has all of Hollywood wrapped around her little finger: a place many a man would kill to be. The legendary' screen siren has, however, one critic—one with deadly fangs in place of a poison pen—who is knocking off Mae West impersonators along his way to the real thing.But if there’s one thing Mae West knows, it’s that no no-account vampire is going to upstage Tinseltown’s most celebrated vamp. Brought back larger than life as only George Baxt can do it, Mae herself takes charge of the investigation in an adventure brimming with her doubles and her double entendres. This time she’s hoping he won’t have a gun in his pocket, and that he won’t be glad to see her.Armed with glamour, gossip, and curves of every kind, Mae leaps headlong into a web of blackmail and corruption without so much as a trace of fear. Says Mae: “You don’t know danger until you’ve faced the New York critics on an opening night.” And when a Hallowe’en party at one of Hollywood's spookiest, seamiest clubs brings hunter and hunted together, it’s no longer clear who is after whom.What is clear, however, is that once Mae West gets in on the act, no sucker is safe.

Basking in the recent success of The Thin Man, William Powell and Myrna Loy stumble onto a situation so typically Hollywood that only the real-life incarnation of Nick and Nora Charles could take the case. A Hollywood madam publicizes that she's in need of money, effectively putting the squeeze on many of Holywood’s leading men by implying that soon she might be desperate enough to sell the contents of her little black book.A book like that could do a lot of damage in a town where Louis B. Mayer is not above exercising the morals clauses in bis actors' connects to suit his own schemes, where gossip spreads faster than you can say Louella Parsons." and where celebrity secrets are a valuable commodity—or a motive for murder.William Powell and Myrna Loy. the silver screen's most charming sleuthing couple, bring tbeir roles as Nick and Nora Charles back to life alongside George Baxt's fictional investigating trio of Herb Villon. Hazel Dickson, and Jim Mallory. Once again. Bait delivers a witty, engaging mystery depicting Hollywood in its heyday as only he can.

It’s 1953, and Hollywood's most legendary dancing duo is reunited after five years of semiretirement to dance with Russia's celebrated Baronovitch Ballet. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers have consented to do their first TV special ever, and, except for Ginger's concern about her age (and looking it), they're tickled to be catching up with the times. The CIA is convinced, however, that the company has been infiltrated by spies, and they've asked local police Detectives Herb Villon and Jim Mallory to keep a close watch on the dancers. But before rehearsal even begins, a psychiatrist is dead. Dr. Igor Romanov, who had connections to the ballet company and who was also Ginger's therapist, collapses soon after the party announcing the ballet's gig with Astaire and Rogers. The rumors fly: Was the good doctor ill, or was he poisoned? With all the talk about communists and conspiracies, defectors and double agents, it's all Fred and Ginger can do to concentrate on the show-until there's another body, and Astaire and Rogers ore on the case. Once again, the venerable George Baxt delivers a witty, satirical mystery set in Hollywood's heyday.

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This delightful tour de force has Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott heading an all-star cast of Algonquin Round Table regulars, all taking deadly aim and shooting from the quip in a baffling case of murder that springboards with the body of a murdered Ziegfeld beauty found dead in George S. Kaufman's "hideaway." It's 1926 and the day of Rudolph Valentino's funeral, and the shade of the great screen lover plays an important role in this tantalizing recreation of the Babylon that was New York City in the roaring, bloody 1920's. The intricate web of murder and intrigue in which Mrs. Parker finds herself the willing fly to a very fascinating, mysterious spider whose lifestyle is strangely based on that of Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby, includes meaty appearances by Texas Guinan, Florenz Ziegfeld, George Raft, and Polly Adler and reaches out west to Hollywood and the mysterious, unsolved murder of film director William Desmond Taylor. As the Detroit News summed it up,

Remember when country star, Christy-Anne, had the leaked sex tape?No one else does either. All thanks to Lucille Anton, undercover PR agent for troublesome celebrities. They screw up, she covers up. Business is good and Lucille's good at it. But all that changes when international superstar Michel Polce approaches her with the toughest case of her career—his fiancée is trying to kill him and he doesn't want anyone to know. Brett Jacobs is at rock bottom of, well, everything. But he pulls himself out of his grimy apartment to attend a party with his former best friend, Michel Polce. Little does he know he's about to be introduced to the most fascinating, unattainable woman he's ever met in his life. And the only way to get close to her is to convince her, and himself, to help Michel.The mission is clear—find the fiancée, tell her to stop trying to kill Michel, and make sure no one knows. But with an ex-boyfriend popping up at...

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“Danger,” whispered Marlene. “How exciting!”“Danger from some of your guests.” Anna Mae Wong's eyes were dark with foreboding.“That is quite possible,” said Marlene. “I've invited the Marx Brothers.” New Year's Eve, 1931: Marlene Dietrich, as the reigning queen of Hollywood, sees fit to throw a royal bash in order to show off her legendary legs— and her secret-recipe potato pancakes. Gloria Swanson. Joan Crawford, and Jean Harlow are only a few of the luminaries who grace Marlene's star-studded guest list, and an astrologer's warning of danger serves only to heighten the Blue Angel's spirits. The only danger Marlene foresees avoiding is Groucho Marx after a bit too much Revelry.The danger, however, centers upon the astrologer herself, who upstages her hostess with a dire prediction about a new world war—and is subsequently murdered. But while death may be a show-stopper in some houses, it makes Marlene a detective for the prosecution.Marlene is convinced that the culprit lies among the astrologer's clientele of show-biz greats and political heavies, and with Dietrich determination, the screen siren takes on Hollywood gossips, European power brokers, and Nazi sympathizers in order to find a star-crossed killer. In the barbed and wickedly witty style for which he is known, George Baxt has brought Marlene Dietrich to life in all her riveting charm, lively humor, and hausfraulich love of cooking.

The coroner arrived with his pallbearer's mien, followed by two assistants, one carrying a rolled-up stretcher. "Where's the body?""In her dressing room," said Noel, "resting""Where do you find your amazing equanimity, Noel?""Like Little Jack Horner, I stick in my thumb and pull out aplomb 'Baxt's gung-ho enthusiasm, extensive use of movie lore, and wild narrative verve make his works a delirious...pleasure' said Booklist of the much-loved series of celebrity mysteries. Now, add play wright/actor/singer/ man-about-town Noel Coward to the cast of luminaries who grace Baxt's pages with their insider gossip and acerbic wit.New York City, 1935: A trio of thugs who call themselves Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Bizet are funding a flashy nightclub, and the inimitable Noel Coward has been persuaded to tickle an ivory or two on opening night. Noel's droll, dry, and deadly wit never disappoints an audience — even after a showgirl meets her death onstage.

One second I am on my first film set as the writer, and the next second I am filling in for a missing actress opposite my long-term celebrity crush. And I’m playing his love interest. It’s like the universe has plucked my greatest dream from my brain. But I need to remember it’s only for a day. Which is hard, because Ben is even kinder and smarter in person. I could find myself falling in love, if it weren't for the fact that I have a career to launch. No time to be distracted by the glitz and glam of make-believe. Ready for the Spotlight is a movie-set, closed-door romantic comedy with kisses both on and off set plus a spooky horse, meddling coworkers, celebrity gossip, and a comfy porch hammock.

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“It needs something.” Hitch stared out the window as they passed St Peter's Church, which dated from the eleventh century. Alma waited. She was soon rewarded. His face lit up. “I know what we need. We need a marvelous, brutal, bloody murder! The gorier the better. " The taxi driver cringed and narrowly avoided hitting a pedestrian. Alma's shoulders sagged. “Now how do I work a murder into a story of two chorus girls in a music hall? Have you a clue?" “If I had a clue, we'd have a murder." In this stunning new novel by George Baxt, Alfred Hitchcock gets his murder—two, in fact—but with few clues. It is 1925, and Hitch and his wife are discussing the script for his new film, The Pleasure Garden, which they are currently shooting in Munich. It is the set for this film that becomes the stage for just the sort of “brutal, bloody” murder Hitch describes— only this one is quite unpleasantly real. There are no leads to follow, except evidence that the murder weapon had been used the previous night in the grisly stabbing of yet another member of the ill-fated film’s staff—and a curiously catchy and persistent melody last played by the murdered pianist. Eleven years and twenty films later, the Munich murders are still unsolved. Hitchcock, who is living with Alma in London, has begun to win international acclaim as a writer of spy thrillers. He is working on The Lady Vanishes when he receives a mysterious phone call from the past that thrusts the ever-expanding director into the role of the pursued—wanted for a crime he did not commit—in a chase worthy of a scene from one of his own films. Studded with plot detail from Hitchcock’s many films and featuring the famous director himself in this ingenious and stylish thriller, The Alfred Hitchcock Murder Case is a treat for Hitchcock fans and George Baxt fans alike.

It is 1952, the dawn of the McCarthy era. The communist blacklist is circulating; careers and even lives hang on the decision of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. In the midst of all the turmoil, suspicion, and fear is the irrepressible Tallulah Bankhead, enjoying a professional comeback as the star of the hugely successful radio program, “The Big Show.” As confident and brassy as ever, she continues to sip her vodka martinis and inhale deeply upon her trademark Craven A cigarettes, refusing to succumb to the general paranoia. But then the blacklist touches Tallulah’s life: A scheduled guest on her show kills himself after his name is given to the committee, Tallulah herself is threatened with the blacklist, and, worst of all, the first of a series of murders is committed. Detective Jacob Singer begins the investigation alone, but soon finds that he has an avid partner. Tallulah tries her hand at detective work, drawing upon her intimate knowledge of the names and personal lives of countless celebrities and show-business personalities (including a certain theatrical agent named George Baxt). Together, Tallulah and Jacob Singer race against time to puzzle out the murderer’s identity and put a stop to the killings in this brilliant new addition to the work of acclaimed mystery novelist George Baxt.

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Television personalities suddenly disappear. A confluence of agents in the North of Scotland. Can Kirsten Stewart make the connection and prevent an on-air execution. When Scottish celebrities begin to disappear, the police enlist the help of the Service to find the guilty parties. But Kirsten and her team are stretched as a flood of foreign agents seem to be massing in the Scottish Highlands. Can the team make the connection and stop a broadcast that will leave every citizen numb to their core? Sometimes there is such a thing as bad publicity!

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Dashiell Hammett's story of The Maltese Falcon comes to life in the witty tenth instalment of George Baxt's popular celebrity mystery series. It's 1941, and in between battles with his third wife, Mayo Methot, Humphrey Bogart is preparing to star with friends Mary Astor and Peter Lorre in what will become one of the jewels of his career. But filming is interrupted before it begins when the Bogarts' own house is ransacked. All clues indicate that someone is looking for a priceless cornucopia filled with jewels dating from the time of Marco Polo that was once in the possession of Mayo's sea captain father. Similarities to The Maltese Falcon draw Dashiell Hammett and his acerbic lady Lillian Heilman into the chase, and for a while it seems that everyone, from the washed-up silent film actress Karen Barrett to the greyest screen vamp of the twenties Theda Bara, to studio mogul Sam Goldwyn, has had his or her hands on the cornucopia. But then a murder is discovered, and another, and a third. Who wants the prize badly enough to kill for it? A bossy Italian contessa or her disgruntled lover? The proprietor of an antique shop or his bewigged ‘daughter’ Nell? The assistant to Hollywood's trendiest interior designer? Samuel Goldwyn?? Once again Detective Herb Villon, his girlfriend, gossip columnist Hazel Dickson, and his assistant Jim Mallory star alongside the real celebrities in a glamorous story of murder mayhem, and ‘such stuff as dreams are made on.’

Queen Bees looks at the lives of six remarkable women who made careers out of being society hostesses, including Lady Astor, who went on to become the first female MP, and Mrs Greville, who cultivated relationships with Edward VII, as well as Lady Londonderry, Lady Cunard, Laura Corrigan and Lady Colefax. Written with wit, verve and heart, Queen Bees **is the story of a form of societal revolution, and the extraordinary women who helped it happen. In the aftermath of the First World War, the previously strict hierarchies of the British class system were weakened. For a number of ambitious, spirited women, this was the chance they needed to slip through the cracks and take their place at the top of society as the great hostesses of the time. In an age when the place of women was uncertain, becoming a hostess was not a chore, but a career choice, and though some of the hostesses' backgrounds were surprisingly humble, their aspirations were anything but. During the inter-war years these extraordinary women ruled over London society from their dining tables and salons - entertaining everyone from the Mosleys to the Mitfords, from millionaires to maharajahs, from film stars to royalty - and their influence can still be felt today. **

It's the celebrity wedding of the season...The news that Hollywood bad boy Rufus George is finally settling down has caused a media storm. Especially since his bride is a civilian -- a nobody.Kelly Monsoon is a pretty, curvy theatre administrator. She never expected to meet a mega-star like Rufus let alone have him fall in love with her. And when Rufus asks Kelly to come and live with him, in his magnificent mansion, she feels like it's a fairytale come true. Only this Prince Charming comes with a 12-person entourage, a bevy of beautiful ex-girlfriends and the world's press camped on his doorstep. But when Rufus proposes Kelly accepts and the media interest in this new couple hits the roof. However, the small, intimate wedding Kelly always dreamed of is taking on Hollywood epic proportions...Rufus's manager is trying to book Buckingham Palace for the wedding reception and all Kelly's mum wants to know is where to buy a nice hat. It's a clash of cultures: British versus...

When a veteran stage actress threatens to expose Ashe Hunter’s past unless he helps her acquire a much-coveted movie role, Ashe must decide whether his public image as the perfect gentleman is more important than the trust of the only woman he’s ever loved.

Our criminal justice system has become high-stakes reality TV. Nobody knows that better than charismatic Court TV commentator Nancy Grace. And nobody feels more fervent about the importance of our judicial system that this former Atlanta special prosecutor, who began her legal career after the murder of her fiancé. In Objection!, she presents her outspoken critique of today's legal culture, using high-profile court cases -- involving Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Robert Blake, Kobe Bryant, Martha Stewart, and others -- to prove her points. 

Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot. There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control. Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself “Lipstick” and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers.Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.From the Hardcover edition.From Publishers WeeklyThis is an entertaining, well-researched and charmingly illustrated dissection of the 1920s flapper, who flouted conventions and epitomized the naughtiness of the Jazz Age as she "bobbed her hair, smoked cigarettes, drank gin, sported short skirts, and passed her evenings in steamy jazz clubs." Cambridge historian Zeitz identifies F. Scott Fitzgerald as "the premier analyst," and his muse and wife, Zelda, "the prototype" of the American flapper. Others who invented aspects of the flapper mystique were New Yorker writer Lois Long, who gave readers a vicarious peek into the humorous late-night adventures of the New Woman; designer Coco Chanel, whose androgynous fashions redefined feminine sexuality as they blurred the line between men's and women's roles in society; fashion artist Gordon Conway, whose willowy and aloof flappers were seen by millions of American and European magazine readers; and Clara Bow, who breathed life into the flapper on the silver screen. The Klan, Zeitz relates, denounced flappers as evils of the modern age, and advertisers exploited the social anxieties of would-be flappers by appealing to the conformist at the heart of this controversial figure. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review This lively history looks at the Jazz Age through its greatest symbol, the flapper. A far cry from the staid Victorian angel of the house, flappers wore their hair short, dared to show their legs, drank, smoked, and cavorted with young men. Alhough he didn't invent the flapper as many suppose, F. Scott Fitzgerald did bring the modern woman into the public eye in his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. Zeitz explores the lives of the women who have come to personify the flapper ideal: Zelda Sayre, the southern belle who married Fitzgerald and became his muse; Lois Long, the sharp-tongued New Yorker columnist whose nightlife was often the subject of her writing; Coco Chanel, the elegant designer who carefully crafted her own backstory; and the actresses Colleen Moore, Clara Bow, and Louise Brooks, who brought the flapper to the silver screen only to be left in the dust when the following decade ushered in a less sexually confident feminine ideal. Zeitz's energetic writing does his subject justice, bringing to life the wild coed parties; the colorful, glitzy fashion; and the general energy and enthusiasm with which the decade embraced modernity. An essential exploration of the women Zeitz deems "the first thoroughly modern American[s]." Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Justin Westlake is the premier Pop Star in the world. He has it all. Fame, success, riches beyond his wildest dreams, and women. Lots and lots of women. But he's bored by it all. He wants to make meaningful art, not just churn out hits. Cerise Nicholls is a young classical musician struggling to pay for Juliard and New York City rent. So when she's asked to play the cello in a music video for a thousand bucks, she jumps at the chance. The moment Justin lays eyes on Cerise, he knows he has to have her. But the uptight and proper young musician is appalled by his tacky moves. When he lets down his guard, will she be able to resist the real man underneath?

The legendary star Greta Garbo has seen better days than those of World War II, which has all but cut Hollywood off from her films' biggest markets, Europe and Asia. MGM movie mogul Louis B. Mayer informs her that Warner Brothers would like to "borrow" her, to which she replies, characteristically, "I don't want to be a loan." But, refusing the status of a Hollywood has-been, Garbo reluctantly accepts the title role in a modern rendition of Joan of Arc—now revered as a symbol of anti-Nazism—in an independent production that will employ many down-and-out-in-HoIlywood German expatriates. And everyone— from the lascivious Peter Lorre to the renowned director Erich von Stroheim and his mysterious assistant Lisa Schmidt —seems to have an ulterior motive. Garbo soon finds herself at the center of an international imbroglio full of actors acting as spies, spies acting as actors, and some actors simply acting— a drama in which she must ultimately play a leading role.

It is 1929, and Hollywood is in chaos. Tinseltown is far removed from the stock market crash, however; the word on everyone's lips is "talkers. The invention of movies with sound means the dawn of an exciting new era in the film industry. But not everyone stands to gain from the demise of silent movies, and some will do anything for revenge. Alexander Roland, czar of Diamond Films ('If it sparkles, it's a Diamond!"), plans to empty his studios of all the players whose voices don't register well in a soundstage. And mega-producer Samuel Goldwyn intends to do the same, in between uttering his famous Goldwynisms ("Mock my words!''). The tyrannical Marie Darling, whose precious offspring—darling daughter Annamary, sullen but swashbuckling son-in-law Willis Loring. and doping and drinking son Jack—were once stars of the silent screen, is determined to make her opinions register. Amidst the wailing prima donnas, aging playboys, and breathless young hopefuls imported from Broadway, lurks a murderer Of course, everyone in the show-biz community is capable of murder, but only in Hollywood are young aspiring actresses strangled with their own silk stockings. Police inspector Herbert Villon is brought in to investigate, but ace gossip reporter Hazel Dickson may beat him to it, and then Bertha Graze—confidante to everyone, it seems—and her crystal ball may have a thing or two to tell him.

John Freeman was one of Britain's most extraordinary public figures for over half a century: a renaissance man who constantly reinvented himself; a household name who sought complete anonymity. From advertising executive to war hero to MP tipped to be Prime Minister, Freeman then changed direction to become a seminal television interviewer and editor of the New Statesman. He subsequently remodelled himself yet again to become, in turn, an ambassador, a TV mogul, a university professor and, finally, in retirement, a well-known bowls player in south London. Freeman packed nine lives into his ninety-nine years, but all he really wanted was to be forgotten. The paradox of this private celebrity was captured by the very series that made him famous: Face to Face. While Freeman remorselessly interrogated the stars of his age, he himself sat in the shadows, his back to the camera. He was the grand inquisitor, exposing the personalities behind the public figures – but never his...

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Q: What do Tiger, Paris, Lindsay, Alec, and Oprah have in common with the enduring characters of Anton Chekhov?A: Love, loss, pride, yearning, heartbreak, renewal, transcendence: the very stuff of life.The immortal stories of Anton Chekhov have long entranced readers with their insights into the universal truths of human behavior . . . but you've never read them quite like this. Former friends Nicole and Paris exchange prickly pleasantries in "Tall and Short."Talk-show host Dave narrowly averts another potential domestic crisis in "A Transgression."Reality star Kim shares her newfound notoriety with Khloe and Kourtney in "Joy."In a witty, graceful, and revelatory feat of literary reinvention, acclaimed novelist and humorist Ben Greenman takes nineteen of Chekhov's greatest stories and recasts them with some of the best-known luminaries of our time--with eye-opening, and oddly...