Wild Nights

Kaplan's ( A Morning After ) colorful novel, set in the fast-paced milieu of TV, asks if superwoman Jillian van Dorne can indeed have it all. After taking time out to raise two daughters, former TV producer Jillian longs to resume her exciting career. So when a former colleague offers her a job as producer of a new show, she accepts, over the objections of her husband, Mark. But as she attempts to juggle, home, family and work, Jillian's life spins out of control. Trying to help the show's first featured subject, teenage rock star Annabelle Fox, who is abused by her cruel, misogynistic manager/boyfriend, Jillian must establish her own standards of morality in the media. Meanwhile her marriage suffers from Mark's increasing withdrawal from family life and his affair with his real estate firm's cunning lawyer, Cynthia. Just as Jillian finds comfort in a kindhearted director, Annabelle's boyfriend is mysteriously murdered, and the New York DA's office is hot on the trail of Mark and his shady deals. By coincidence and by marriage, the worlds of Los Angeles and New York, and of television, law and real estate are connected. With well-plotted glimpses of powerful and glamorous arenas, insider Kaplan provides a satisfying read. (Oct.)