cover image My Liar

My Liar

Rachel Cline, . . Random, $22.95 (252pp) ISBN 978-1-4000-6227-0

Friendship, Hollywood-style, is the subject of Cline's underpowered second novel (after her well-received What to Keep ). Mousy film editor Annabeth Jensen and chic, ambitious indie director Laura Katz, both in their 30s, meet at an industry party. Annabeth, who has a dark past (“the mostly absent alcoholic father, the raging mother”), is between jobs, and Laura is looking for a producer for her new project. Annabeth and Laura become unlikely friends and together begin prepping the feature, Trouble Doll , “about a girl from the Midwest who comes to L.A. to find fame and fortune and winds up dead on the side of the road.” But as soon as the movie goes into production, the women's friendship shifts, with Annabeth feeling more like just another employee than a confidante. How Annabeth deals with a grand betrayal of their friendship forms the dramatic crux of this novel, but Annabeth's attempt to reassert control over her life may come too late; her defining (and not overly gripping) feature is her grinding insecurity, and it eventually tiptoes into maudlin territory. This novel is likely too meek to leave a lasting mark in the pantheon of Hollywood fiction. (Feb.)