The maven of guilty pleasures is back with a vengeance! Jackie Collins is at her prurient best in Lethal Seduction, creating a cast of characters as flawed as they can possibly be and still be likable. At the center of the whirlwind is stunning Madison Castelli, introduced previously in Collins's L.A. Connections series. Madison is a no-nonsense journalist who specializes in revealing interviews with the rich and famous. She discovers that her own life is not exactly as it seems when she hires private investigator Kimm Florian to uncover the secrets of her family's past. It turns out Maddy's beloved father didn't make his fortune in investments but rather as a mob hit man. And his targets may have included her two mothers: her real mother, who was murdered when Maddy was just an infant, and Stella, the beautiful, distant woman Maddy always believed to be her mother. Add in a pesky ex-lover who wants her back and a commitment-phobic new boyfriend in photographer Jake Sica, and Maddy's life is spinning out of control.

But she's hardly alone. When Madison's best friend, Grace Kelly look-alike Jamie Nova, finds out that her so-called perfect husband is cheating on her, she will do anything (and anyone) to get back at him. But the most captivating story line is that of bitch supreme Rosarita Falcon, unhappily married to a handsome but unsuccessful soap opera star whose real name is Dick Cockranger. Rosarita is perfectly willing to stoop to murder-for-hire (with her dear old dad pulling the trigger) to get rid of her husband so she can be with Joel Blaine, public sex fanatic and son of billionaire Leon Blaine.

The stories merge in a spectacular crescendo at a Las Vegas prizefight, when a mysterious stranger, Vincent Castle, appears to save Maddy and Jamie from an awkward situation. Fans of Jackie Collins will hope they haven't seen the last of Madison Castelli. --Alison Trinkle


From Publishers Weekly
Destined for bestsellerdom, Collins's latest is a typically steamy, fast-paced tale that skips from the glitz and excitement of New York's fast lane to the high-stakes, celebrity-rich world of Las Vegas. Magazine journalist Madison Castelli, first spotted in Collins's LA Connections series, is featured, disenchanted with men but still hopeful she'll find love one day. Her unhappy childhood is detailed after her mother is murdered, and she discovers unpleasant truths about her past, including that her "perfect" father is married to the mob. Meanwhile, Madison's best friend, Jamie Nova, an interior designer, suspects that her husband is having an affair. And New York soap opera star Dexter Falcon is trying to rekindle excitement in his marriage to Rosarita, the spoiled daughter of a construction business mogul. Unbeknownst to Dexter, Rosarita is sleeping with Joel Blaine, the son of a real estate billionaire, and scheming to end her marriage in hopes of hooking up with Blaine. The latter, typical of the perverse, two-dimensional characters in Collins's world, likes kinky sex in public and craves drop-dead gorgeous model Carrie Hanlon. Though her sex scenes border on sleaze, Collins injects plenty of glamour into this page-flipping tale by peopling her fictional world with real-life celebrities, outfitting her characters in the appropriate designer clothing and mentioning the hottest restaurants du jour. Agent, Morton Janklow. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; major promo. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Things get sticky when fashion designer Jamie Nova celebrates her divorce in Las Vegas with two friends: the playboy they've all been flirting with turns up dead in Jamie's bed. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Madison Castelli writes biographical sketches for a fancy Manhattan magazine, Natalie anchors a California news program, and Jamie is unhappy in her romantic marriage. When Madison discovers her father has a secret past, she seeks to learn all, but everything goes wrong (with a lot of help from other extraneous characters). Carrington MacDuffie follows the lust-filled characters; he remains unfazed by the explicit, crude language that accompanies every sex scene. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
Madison Castelli, celebrity profiler for an upscale Manhattan magazine and heroine of Collins's L.A. Connections series, takes center stage in this coast-to-coast melodrama amid a memorably horny cast of characters.There's Rosarita Falcon, foul-mouthed mob princess, unhappily married to Dexter, gorgeous ex-male model turned soap star, who's heavily into fidelity and other lost virtues. But Rosarita intends to dump him because she has the hots for Joel Blaine, thuggish real-estate mogul and exhibitionistic sex addict. When not servicing Rosarita on his mahogany desk, Joel chases bitchy supermodel Carrie Hanlon and secretly lusts after Madison, whose sights are set on handsome, freewheeling photographer Jake DeSica. Jake beds Madison briefly, then jets off to pursue his other interests, which range from cheetahs to call girls. Madison's college chums--beautiful, blond interior-decorator Jamie Nova and trash-talking African-American TV reporter Natalie de Barge--advise her to forget Jake, but she can't. Then the mysterious and violent death of Madison's mother raises questions about her father's possible involvement. Madison hires Native American lesbian private investigator Kimm Florian, who tracks down some--though not all--of Dad's shocking secrets. Eventually, a world championship prizefight brings everyone together in Las Vegas for the hyper-convoluted finale. Cheerfully cheesy as always, Collins entertains in high style. But the story's stuck in a time warp. Her ace reporter and famous photographer apparently have never heard of voicemail, e-mail, or laptops; they often communicate via answering machines that actually run out of tape (what's that?). The party scenes are equally dated, with cocaine and amyl nitrate still the drugs du jour. Collins is noticeably out of touch with the contemporary Hollywood scene, but her loyal readers won't care: plenty of rough and raunchy sex, served up with brio, keeps the plot moving right along to the next installment.Cool as a subzero shot of designer vodka, and just as unreal. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
Kirkus Reviews Cool as a subzero shot of designer vodka....


Book Description
SECRET OBSESSION. DEADLY PASSION. LETHAL SEDUCTION Jackie Collins brings back her savvy heroine from the L.A. Connections series in this erotically charged, suspense-laced New York Times bestseller. Caught between two lovers, Madison Castelli's sex life is in overdrive. But when she discovers someone close to her is keeping deadly secrets, the real excitement begins....Plunged into the high-powered circles of New York and the manic thrills of Las Vegas, Madison steps among explosive passions, mob machinations, and dangerous deceptions, only to find that nothing is ever as it seems.


Download Description
Prominent New York fashion designer Jamie Nova has chosen the over-the-top excitement and surreal glitz of Las Vegas as the festive setting for celebrating her impending divorce. Joined by her two best friends -- street-smart Madison Castelli, and Natalie de Barge, an ambitious TV reporter -- Jamie plans to make the most of her hard-earned holiday and forget all about her controlling ex. And when the threesome encounters Mark Blaine, the fun-loving playboy scion of a mysterious real estate billionaire, things start to heat up very quickly. Madison and Natalie receive a frantic midnight phone call telling them that Mark is lying in Jamie's bed -- and he's dead. Is Jamie holding something back? And why is Madison's handsome, seemingly infallible father so reluctant to help sort things out?Packed with all the danger, passion, and glamour fans expect from her novels, this deliciously edgy and uninhibited tale of cover-ups, deception, and Mob involvement finds Jackie Collins at the height of her creative powe


About the Author
Jackie Collins is the author of twenty-three New York Times bestselling novels. From Hollywood Wives to Lady Boss, from Hollywood Divorces to Deadly Embrace, Jackie Collins has chronicled the lives of the rich and famous with "devastating accuracy" (Los Angeles Times). She lives in Beverly Hills.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
July 2000

Lethal Seduction

Madison Castelli is having a few problems. David, her ex-live-in lover who walked out on her, is trying to walk back in, and he's not taking no for an answer. After whisking Madison's heart away, her new lover, Jake Sica, leaves town on a photographic assignment with nary a moment's notice. Her best friend, Jamie Nova, suspects her Wall Street powerhouse husband of cheating on her. And her parents' marriage unexpectedly unravels, revealing a side of her beloved father, Michael, that Madison had never dreamed existed. What more could possibly happen? Everything. As millions of devoted readers know, in the world of Jackie Collins, anything is possible. And Madison, the smart and beautiful heroine first featured in Collins's L.A. Connections series, is only one part of the story. Alternating with the quandaries confronting Madison — including a double murder that hits too close to home — is the scheming of Rosarita Vincent Falcon, a surgically sculpted beauty whose fiery passion is no longer centered on her husband, erstwhile soap star Dexter Falcon. Consumed with lust for Joel Blaine — the playboy son of a billionaire with an insatiable appetite for public sex — and appalled that Dexter hasn't yet become the movie star she'd hoped to marry, Rosarita demands a divorce. When Dexter refuses, her thoughts turn sinister — and deadly. Culminating in Las Vegas, Lethal Seduction brings this beguiling mix of characters together at the scene of a prize fight and gives all precisely what they deserve(ifnot always what they want). Take a seamy walk through a den of intrigue, treachery, and passion with Collins's intoxicating mix of characters, where things are absolutely never quite as they seem.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Madison Castelli, the beautiful, street-smart heroine of Jackie Collins's L.A. Connections series, returns in Lethal Seduction, an edgy novel full of danger, passion and suspense.

Madison is having problems -- her ex-live-in lover who walked out on her is trying to walk back in. Her new lover is giving her a hard time. And her father turns out to be a man with deadly secrets.

Set between the high-powered world of New York and the manic excitement of Las Vegas, Lethal Seduction is packed with all the intrigue and glamour fans have come to expect from Jackie Collins. This deliciously uninhibited tale of cover-ups, deception and mob involvement finds Jackie Collins at the height of her creative powers as the diverse cast of characters in Lethal Seduction take an exhilarating walk on the wild side, where nothing is ever exactly as it seems and danger is all around.

In Lethal Seduction you will also meet:

Jamie Nova -- a breathtakingly beautiful interior designer, who catches her Wall Street husband cheating.

Jake Sica -- a laid-back photographer not looking for a commitment.

Rosarita Falcon -- an ambitious and sexy would-be New York socialite with a yen to murder her husband.

Joel Blaine -- the playboy son of a billionaire with an unquenchable taste for public sex.

Carrie Hanlon -- a top supermodel with a degree in egomania and bitchery.

Dexter Falcon -- a handsome soap star with a romantic heart and an unbeatable body. And...

Kimm Florian -- a Native American gay detective with a dry wit and a big heart.

Together these characters will take you on a sometimes funny, sometimes sad trip guaranteed to seduce you all the way.

SYNOPSIS

Beautiful, street-smart Madison Castelli is having problems. Her ex-live-in lover, who walked out on her, is trying to walk back in. Her new lover is giving her a hard time. And her father turns out to be a man with deadly secrets. Here's a tale of cover-ups, deception, and mob involvement, in which nothing is as it seems...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Destined for bestsellerdom, Collins's latest is a typically steamy, fast-paced tale that skips from the glitz and excitement of New York's fast lane to the high-stakes, celebrity-rich world of Las Vegas. Magazine journalist Madison Castelli, first spotted in Collins's LA Connections series, is featured, disenchanted with men but still hopeful she'll find love one day. Her unhappy childhood is detailed after her mother is murdered, and she discovers unpleasant truths about her past, including that her "perfect" father is married to the mob. Meanwhile, Madison's best friend, Jamie Nova, an interior designer, suspects that her husband is having an affair. And New York soap opera star Dexter Falcon is trying to rekindle excitement in his marriage to Rosarita, the spoiled daughter of a construction business mogul. Unbeknownst to Dexter, Rosarita is sleeping with Joel Blaine, the son of a real estate billionaire, and scheming to end her marriage in hopes of hooking up with Blaine. The latter, typical of the perverse, two-dimensional characters in Collins's world, likes kinky sex in public and craves drop-dead gorgeous model Carrie Hanlon. Though her sex scenes border on sleaze, Collins injects plenty of glamour into this page-flipping tale by peopling her fictional world with real-life celebrities, outfitting her characters in the appropriate designer clothing and mentioning the hottest restaurants du jour. Agent, Morton Janklow. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; major promo. (July) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Madison Castelli, last seen in the "L.A. Connections" series, stars in this exceptionally tawdry tale of life among the rich, famous, and connected. After Madison discovers that the recently murdered woman whom she thought was her mother really wasn't, she hires Kimm Florian, a Native American lesbian detective and the most interesting character in the novel, to investigate. Kimm provides Madison with the identity of her real mother as well as the secret profession of her father Mafia hit man. Meanwhile, Rosarita Falcon, a petulant Mafia princess, is struggling to convince her father to whack her husband, an honorable soap opera actor who refuses to grant Rosarita a divorce. The two story lines merge at a Las Vegas prizefight although even then, the action shifts dizzyingly among the sets of players. Carrington MacDuffie's lively narration is the highlight of this production, which is a marginal purchase for large public libraries. Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., Garrettsville, OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile

Madison Castelli writes biographical sketches for a fancy Manhattan magazine, Natalie anchors a California news program, and Jamie is unhappy in her romantic marriage. When Madison discovers her father has a secret past, she seeks to learn all, but everything goes wrong (with a lot of help from other extraneous characters). Carrington MacDuffie follows the lust-filled characters; he remains unfazed by the explicit, crude language that accompanies every sex scene. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Rosenfeld - Talk Magazine

Say what you will about Jackie Collins, no one writes a better sex-in-the-back-of-a-Bentley scene...I'm sticking to Collins this summer.

Lily Burana - The Village Voice