The Dollhouse Academy

Ambitious 20-somethings learn the price of fame in this frothy, 1990s-set thriller from Montimore (Acts of Violet). The elite and secretive Dollhouse Academy in the Catskills is known for producing platinum talent for Dahlen Entertainment’s hit music, film, and television offerings. Dollhouse attendance is the surest path to stardom, so when founder and pharmaceutical heir Genevieve Spalding invites 22-year-old best friends Ramona Holloway and Grace Ludlow to enroll, they can’t believe their luck. Grace becomes Genevieve’s protégé and lands a role on a top prime-time drama, while a bitterly jealous Ramona receives remedial training, is fired from her first TV gig, and gets anonymous notes urging her to leave Dollhouse. Ramona initially suspects a rival student is trying to scare her, but as Dollhouse’s required medical exams and treatments grow stranger and more invasive, encompassing frequent blood work and psych evaluations, she begins to fear for her and Grace’s safety. Terrified diary entries from Dollhouse’s first and biggest star, which punctuate Ramona’s increasingly anxious first-person narration, effectively ratchet up the suspense. Though the plot occasionally slides into soapy melodrama, readers won’t mind amid all the twisted fun. It’s a darkly enjoyable takedown of the entertainment industry. Agent: Philippa Sitters, David Godwin Assoc. (Feb.)