Ride the Tiger
by Pat Silver-Lasky

Product Description (from Amazon.com):

Fame, Money and Sex. That’s what Hollywood is all about. Madelaine Brent wanted them all and she always got everything she wanted. But sometimes everything is too much and somebody can get murdered.

My Thoughts:

When I was offered the chance to read this book, Ride the Tiger, by Pat Silver-Lasky, I jumped at it. While it takes place in a time not too far from our own, it feels like old Hollywood, with divas and directors and intrigue around every corner.

I loved the dual opening – the very first chapter with a murder on the beach, and then immediately moving to Maddie on her medical vacation to Mexico for a “rejuvenation” treatment. (My parents live in Mexico, and while their medical care is excellent, they’ve told me enough stories to know it’s also much more casual than here in the states – so those scenes really rang true.)

Madelaine – Maddie – reminds me of so many movie stars – living her outward life and inner life on completely separate planes, and her husband Charles with his British accent also seemed like the perfect archetype.

I can’t really speak about more characters – I’m hesitant to even bring up Maddie’s male roommate in Mexico – because while this is a story about Maddie’s life, it’s also mystery/thriller (this is why I never talk about plot – I cannot bear giving spoilers).

I thought Silver-Lasky’s characters were wonderful. Chilling, compelling, poignant, and even bitchy, when the time was right. Her plot, also, was gripping. I was never bored, and while I suspected the killer fairly early, there were enough twists and turns to keep me reading all the way til the end.

I also loved the way Silver-Lasky’s knowledge of Hollywood history shone through the novel. As I said, it takes place in what is essentially the present, but she made it feel like something from the golden age of film, with rich descriptions and perfect dialogue as well as lovely references to places and people of both then and now.

If you take a chance on only one new-to-you author in the next year, Pat Silver-Lasky should be that author, and Ride the Tiger should be the book.

Goes well with an egg-white omelet and pink grapefruit juice.