Private Scandals

The latest from veteran Roberts ( Genuine Lies ) is set in the glamorous world of television and concerns the rise of hot new talk-show host Deanna Reynolds. Deanna, a sincere and dedicated one-time local reporter in Chicago, has moved to New York, determined to be number one in the field. This pits her against her former mentor, the high strung and manipulative current talk-show queen, Angela Perkins. Angela doesn't take well to the competition and resorts to stealing guests, blackmail and crossing boundaries of good journalism in her effort to fight Deanna's increasing popularity. Deanna's romance with the handsome and much lauded reporter Finn Riley, Angela's former love interest, only increases the tension. But the novel's main question is who will do in Deanna first, the obsessed fan who seems to know her every move, or Angela, whose bitter vows for revenge are hastening her own downfall. Despite one weak plot device--the identity of the obsessed fan is too clear, too early--the novel is a fun read with a good pace and both thoroughly likable and thoroughly loathsome characters. (July)