Killing Monica

Bestseller Bushnell's latest is a poorly executed attempt at tongue-in-cheek self-awareness that never really comes together. Novelist Pandy Wallis's alter ego, Monica%E2%80%94star of four wildly successful novels and celebrated movies%E2%80%94has amassed a global following. But the shiny, happy life Monica leads, once a reflection of Pandy's own, has become a mocking reminder of how much things have changed. Pandy's former best friend SondraBeth, the actress who portrays Monica on the big screen, years earlier slept with a man Pandy loved; Pandy's serial-cheating celeb-chef husband ran through most of her money and wants to take whatever's left in the divorce; and the non-Monica book she's written has been rejected by her publisher, a devastating blow reluctantly delivered by Pandy's agent, Henry. Add a trio of girlfriends able to while away weekday mornings drinking champagne at %C3%BCber-trendy NYC rooftop pools, an obsession with high-end footwear, and seemingly savvy women who make awful choices when it comes to love, and the result is a tired retread of familiar motifs paired with characters any reader would be hard-pressed to care about. (June)