The Hollywood Assistant

An aspiring novelist rebounds from a bad breakup by becoming the assistant to a Hollywood it-couple in Cobb’s deliciously twisty if flawed latest (after A Likeable Woman). When Cassidy Foster’s film producer best friend offers her a job working for director Nate Sterling and his supermodel-turned-actor wife, Marisol Torres, it sounds too good to be true: she’ll make a handsome salary and be in proximity to some of L.A.’s brightest stars. But Cassidy soon discovers that in the privacy of their Malibu mansion, Nate and Marisol’s relationship is far more tempestuous than it appears in the tabloids. In spite of herself, Cassidy falls for Nate, and agrees when he asks her to tail Marisol and find out if she’s cheating on him. Four weeks later, in flash-forward chapters sprinkled throughout the narrative, homicide detectives come knocking at Cassidy’s door with news that one of her employers has been killed, and Cassidy waffles over whether to come forward with crucial information related to the case. As in her previous novels, Cobb maximizes suspense by intersplicing timelines and withholding crucial bits of information. Unfortunately, this time out, the late reveals spin a once-credible narrative into absurdity. This has its glossy charms, but it fails to stick the landing. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (July)