I’m starting to develop a complex. This Phillipa Bornikova chic seems to be surpassing the Snodgrass. 🙂 Of course the core personality has been busy writing a movie, and is just about to finish a new novel, that damn that Phillipa is tearing things up.
Okay, joking aside. I don’t go looking for reviews — good, bad or indifferent. Writers are fragile little bunnies and bad reviews hurt, and make me feel helpless because the book is done and published and there’s not a damn thing I can do to fix it now. Good reviews are nice, but we’re perverse we only hear the bad stuff. Anyway, I make it a policy not to search for or read reviews. The only time I’ll read a review is if my agent or editor send it to me because it would be churlish not too.
So this morning my amazing editor at Tor, Stacy Hill sent me a starred Kirkus review. I was amazed, Kirkus is know for being very tough, stingy with the stars and not big fans of S.F. and Fantasy. But they liked my book. (I feel like Sally Field at the Academy Awards – which is sort of appropriate.) So without further burbling, and begging your pardons for bubberling (okay bragging, blush) So, without further ado — Here is the Kirkus review of BOX OFFICE POISON.
Second in the series (This Case is Gonna Kill Me, 2012) about New York lawyer Linnet Ellery and the vampire law firm she works for, set in a world dominated by the Powers—vampires, werewolves and Álfar (elves)—who revealed themselves less than half a century ago.
Last time out, Linnet found herself battling werewolves. This time, exquisitely beautiful Álfar are snaffling all the plum roles in Hollywood, much to the chagrin of human actors, who, naturally, bring a lawsuit against the studios and networks. Since Álfar charm fails to translate to the screen, the humans insist that they’re using magic to get the parts. Nobody in the Screen Actors Guild wants the dispute in the public domain, so Linnet and her vampire boss, David Sullivan, must fly to California and serve as arbitrators. Complications ensue when Human First agitators make themselves annoyingly obtrusive; and an Álfar actor who slaughtered his beloved human wife now claims to have no memory of the event. Still, the old, influential Álfar observer, Qwendar, seems helpful enough. But when handsome actor-turned-director Jeff Montolbano invites Linnet to the set of his latest movie, his lead actress, an Álfar, bursts in and, sporting enough weapons to stock a small arsenal, starts shooting the place up. Why? What’s really going on? Does Linnet have a secret protector or hidden talents? Bornikova accurately depicts Hollywood with warmth and wit, her puzzles will keep readers guessing until the end, and she tops it off with a smart, sassy heroine willing to poke and prod those more powerful than she.
Refreshingly different, intriguing and involving: A sequel that’s even better than the splendid opener.
