1-60286-017-3
A NOVEL
Dani Hale is obsessed with Hollywood murders, from Marilyn Monroe’s suspicious death to the killings she writes about for the TV crime series Flesh and Bone. Smart, sexy, savvy, but not a little insecure, Dani is determined to carve a place for herself among the Los Angeles entertainment elite—becoming a credit-card-carrying member of the very world whose rituals and absurdities she loves to satirize. Jules Asner’s Whacked is the story of a familiar young woman whose insecurities drive her to terrifying extremes.
Life promises to be perfect for Dani. She has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Dave, a TV director who demands his women be “factory”—i.e., with no plastic surgery enhancements—and who always knows what’s right for Dani and her career. At Flesh and Bone, she has an almost ideal job that lets her indulge her macabre forensic passions—even if the star’s Restylane addiction forces Dani to do last-minute rewrites to delete her close-ups. She doesn’t yet have the ideal figure, but a few more sessions at Barry’s Boot Camp might fix that. And that dream house in the Hollywood Hills eludes her—but moving in seems just a matter of time, once Dave gets around to mentioning marriage.
But something isn’t quite right with her relationship, and Dani—a wily and inventive Internet snoop—learns that Dave’s real creative talents are (1) lying and (2) cheating on her. Soon she’s plunged into the world of singledom, enduring a battalion of bad dates with men whose peccadilloes would drive a lesser woman to kill. More sleuthing leads Dani to discover the truth behind Dave’s liaisons—and the true motives of the Other Woman who caused her all this misery. Ultimately, our heroine is driven to a dramatic extreme that is as shocking as it is sensible in the girl-eat-girl world of Hollywood.
A novel with a killer eye for the crimes and obsessions of modern relationships, Whacked is a wry, arresting foray into a realm that its author knows inside out.
Whacked is a terrifically wicked read!”
Tons of fun…a dishy mix of Tinseltown hackdom, chick lit and, surprisingly, a chilling plot.”
From a true Hollywood insider, Jules Asner's Whacked takes us by surprise as she cleverly navigates the mind of a spurned girlfriend -- funny, witty, and dangerous!”
Asner has captured Hollywood narcissism in all its detail and desperation. There is no one in showbiz who won’t recognize Dani Hale as an associate, or girlfriend, or wife, or self. Well, friend of self. I liked this book a lot.”
A darkly sexy, insightful, and witty peek into the L.A. dating scene. I couldn’t put the book down!”
This delightful black comedy shows how easy it is for someone to be driven to extremes—and how seamlessly a person can go from rifling through receipts to reading someone’s personal e-mail and beyond. Clever and witty, Asner’s debut will appeal to readers who like biting satire.”
"Sex and the City meets CSI and goes to Hollywood."”
As a TV personality, former supermodel and wife of Steven Soderbergh, Asner is more than qualified to write chick lit set in Hollywood!”
