cover image Betrayal

Betrayal

Danielle Steel. Delacorte, $28 (336p) ISBN 978-0-385-34319-0

Tallie Jones is a wildly successful Hollywood director with a loving college-aged daughter, Max, and a devoted boyfriend/producer, Hunt. Her assistant, Brigitte, also happens to be her best friend. However, in the course of a routine audit, it becomes clear that Tallie's fortune is being embezzled by someone close to her. As the FBI investigates, she learns that she's also being cheated on. In order to trap the people responsible, she must keep them closer than ever, but by then it may cost someone their life. Steele's newest (after 44 Charles Street) is as absurd as her previous novels; the glitzy world of Hollywood privilege and cardboard characters offers little in the way of suspense, surprise, or nuance. Existing fans may enjoy it but there's nothing here that would win over new readers. (Apr.)