The Last Lover

With its explicit sex and overheated prose (""How can I tell him that it's not just this, not just us, but how I've lived my whole life, this all or nothing drive and crash I can't take anymore""), this tale of murder and treachery in the bicoastal worlds of entertainment and publishing will appeal mainly to fans of romantic suspense. A ""small-city journalist"" in Connecticut, Sally Harrington joins her beau, book editor Spencer Hawes, at the launch party in L.A. for a film exec's crassly commercial autobiography. To Sally's dismay, rising (and drunken) movie star Lilliana Martin makes it clear she wants Spencer for herself. After taking Lilliana home, Sally in a jealous rage drops her lover off on the side of the road. The next morning he shows up at her hotel. Did he go back to Lilliana's house and spend the night with her? Spencer isn't telling. Nor is Lilliana, since she's disappeared. Later, when Lilliana's estranged boyfriend, shady businessman Cliff Yarlen, turns up dead, Sally becomes the prime suspect. Van Wormer (Expos ; Jury Duty) provides surprises and plot twists galore, along with the inside dish about these so-called glamorous people and the machinations behind the media gloss. Backed by significant ad/promo, this novel will not only sell to Van Wormer's growing body of fans but, if targeted to the Jackie Collins crowd, could be the author's biggest book yet. Agent, Loretta Barrett. (Nov.)