This clunky thriller from Levinson (Ask a Dead Man
) offers a superficial look at the Los Angeles music industry. Ex-cop Josh Wainwright, who runs a private security firm, has been one of the walking wounded ever since an unknown sniper killed his megastar wife, Katie Sunshine, just as she was about to perform at an L.A. telethon. Wainwright has no doubt that whoever pulled the trigger did so at the behest of Clyde “Mr. Magic” Davenport, an egomaniacal impresario, and is given a golden opportunity to get revenge when Davenport himself hires Wainwright’s firm. Ironically, Davenport wants Wainwright to prove him innocent of another murder. Some purple prose (“He wrestled the covers to a draw, paced the bedroom, stared endlessly out the window at a black sky he prayed would open to a light from heaven saving him from the hell of his confusion”) and less than startling plot twists make for a routine read. (Mar.)
