LETHAL SEDUCTION

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.