DEADLY BEAUTIFUL

Author: Sam Baker ISBN: 9780345475909 8/2008 SUSPENSE Publisher: BALLANTINE

Fashion and murder collide in Deadly Beautiful, Sam Baker’s smart, hip, and thrilling new novel as newspaper reporter-turned-fashion writer Annie Anderson investigates a secret underground where many drop-dead-gorgeous models have gone to “make it”—and some have just dropped dead. A serial killer with a thirst for young American models-slash-escorts is on the loose in Tokyo, and the local press is all over it. When supermodel Scarlett Ulrich goes missing while on assignment in Japan, an international media frenzy erupts. At a tender age, Scarlett had the face that launched a million album covers, and her career exploded from there. Now, with only a few clues and no body, the authorities wonder if she’s tied to the recent rash of Jack the Ripper-style killings. Annie Anderson swears that she’s done with investigative reporting. After all, these days she jets off to Paris, Milan, her native London, and, now, New York City for Fashion Week—as a front-row writer for Handbag Magazine. But when Annie learns that Scarlett is actually the half sister of her best friend, she’s on the next plane to the Far East to get the scoop on the missing supermodel. In the electric metropolis of Tokyo, Annie descends into the gritty, cutthroat underbelly of the international fashion industry to uncover the truth behind Scarlett’s disappearance. But navigating this mysterious territory is riskier than she thought, and she’ll need to watch her fabulously coutured back–because someone out there is dressed to kill. And Annie just might be the next hot number to be knocked off.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

DEADLY BEAUTIFUL is nothing like all the endorsements on the cover state. Well, I suppose if I can actually die from boredom it is, and if I consider eighteen year-old girls as big as my six-year old boy attractive, it is. But since I didn't, and I don't, well, I feel the previous is an accurate statement. Anyway, regardless of the interest I have of the insane world of fashion magazines, I am not ready to proclaim this hardcover worthy of the price tag.

Slow, choppy, and sometimes downright confusing, the story jumps from character to scene and all around town. For a bit I have no idea who is saying what. I really hate that. While the dialogue flows a bit better half way through, I still do not care for the random switch of topics—and characters. What I care for less are the two main women characters. I refuse to think of them as heroines since they are nothing short of unsatisfactory in the romantic department. One needs to get a grip and stop hurting the one guy who actually can stand her, and the other needs to stop messing with married men. Not the least romantic, either of them.

The mystery tends to keep things going... slowly, but the ending is nothing short of anti-climatic. While I do confess I did not see some of it coming, I most definitely think the case should be solved with more flair. Perhaps I watch too many crime shows depicting fashion as more dramatic? Or, this one just doesn't fit me.

Shannon Johnson