Shooting for the Stars: A Gil Malloy Novel

In Belsky’s smart, juicy sequel to 2014’s The Kennedy Connection, New York Daily News journalist Gil Malloy is in need of a good story. He finds one when TV personality Abbie Kincaid tells him she has a scoop on new evidence surrounding the murder of Hollywood legend Laura Marlowe at age 22 in 1985. Plucked from obscurity, Marlowe made only three films before an obsessed fan, Ray Janson, shot her in a New York hotel. Two days later Janson hanged himself, but a lot of questions remain. Abbie thinks the cops got the wrong guy. The reporter learns that Marlowe had an aggressive stage mother, ties to the mob, and a brief career doing softcore porn. The actress was also involved in a Manson Family–like religious cult. Malloy makes connections among the characters that are almost too neat, but never mind. Belsky keeps this highly satisfying mystery zipping along right up to the final twist. [em]Agent: Nalini Akolekar, Spencerhill Associates. (Aug.) [/em]