A LOS ANGELES LOVE STORY
by Pasha Adam
A chance encounter sends two strangers on a wild ride through the streets of Los Angeles, where the stakes are high.
In this thriller, Friday evening means a night of hard partying for Brooke. The spoiled trust fund daughter of actor Danny Ryan, she spends her days lost in a haze of absinthe and coke, hopping from one hot Los Angeles area night spot to the next and documenting her exploits on social media. She ends up at the Doheny Room, where she parties with her friend Ashley and Ashley’s boyfriend, Jared. While Brooke enjoys her evening, an actor named Chase hooks up with Melissa, a young waitress. A former bartender plucked from obscurity, Chase gained fame starring on a teen TV drama called All That Glitters. He believes Melissa may be “The One,” until he murders her. A serial killer, Chase targets the bartenders, servers, and waitresses of Hollywood’s trendiest restaurants and nightclubs. The next night, Brooke and Chase meet by chance when they share the same Uber. After Brooke casually invites Chase to join her, they embark on an odyssey that begins with the search for drugs and ends with an unforgettable house party. The latest novel from Adam (Keep Santa Monica Clean, 2016, etc.) is a twisty and transgressive tale of two jaded and troubled strangers discovering an unlikely connection. On the surface, Brooke appears to be a shallow party girl whose only concern is how she appears on Snapchat or Instagram. But the author subtly adds an undercurrent of vulnerability and emptiness to her glamorous facade, particularly in her references to the “stranger wearing my face.” Chase is a multifaceted and compelling protagonist and villain. A successful actor and aspiring screenwriter, he chooses his victims based on his past as a bartender and nostalgia for the lifestyle. Adam’s sharp and economical prose is punctuated by moments of acerbic humor. When asked by his psychiatrist if he thinks he is insane, Chase replies, “No, I’m a television actor.”
A sleek and subversive thriller that should appeal to readers who enjoy edgy fiction.