Gorgeous and talented, Pat Parker has a dream of directing films. She hits L.A. and lands a great job and a great man. But the knives are out for Pat and her man, Tony Valentino. The torured secrets and desperate schemes of jealous lovers will stop at nothing to destroy Pat and Tony, and could bring Malibu to its knees….. 

          In the seventh of Booth’s novels of fashionable places (most recently Beverly Hills ), photographer Pat Parker forsakes trendy Manhattan clubs to focus on the celebrity enclave of Malibu. After a harsh encounter with her mentor-to-be, environmental photographer Ben Alabama (whose fame rivals that of Ansel Adams), Pat faces a dilemma: Should she be true to Alabama’s cause, the preservation of Malibu’s remaining wilderness, or accept a big-bucks job with New Celebrity magazine, owned by Alabama’s enemy, developer and media baron Dick Latham? 

          Heading the magazine’s masthead is Emma Guinness, veteran of London scandal rags and queen of rapacity. When Pat becomes involved with a promising young actor who once spurned Emma’s advances, Emma vows vengeance on one and all. Booth hinges the denouement on a highly unlikely secret, further weakening a plot burdened by vapid dialogue, swollen prose and improbable events. Real issues clash awkwardly against heavy name-dropping in this montage of steamy sex, lost causes and wide-angle comeuppance.