Book Review: "A Stranger Like You" by Elizabeth Brundage

Title: A Stranger Like You

Author: Elizabeth Brundage

Publisher: Viking

ISBN, PUB Date: 978-0-670-02200-7, August 5, 2010

Reviewed by: Joan Hanna for Author Exposure

“As he watched her it came to him that her entire demeanor, down to the slightest off-putting glance, was designed to inspire doubt and awe in her underlings, losers like him who ended up working for people like her.” (7)

What happens when a screenwriter (Hugh Waters) falling off the edges of his life meets an immovable executive producer (Hedda Chase) who refuses to keep a contract made by her predecessor? Well, just about anything you can imagine in this slick, fast-paced novel about what people do when they see the world they so carefully constructed begin to crumble around them.

A Stranger Like You by Elizabeth Brundage is a gripping Hollywood thriller. But if you are expecting a stereotypical run of the mill cast of characters, this book will really surprise you. The Washington Post said, “Brundage has a penchant for turning topical subjects into gripping novels.” And that is exactly what she does in this novel.

Her main character, Hugh Waters, is a man driven by the one thing he thinks can save his life, a green-lighted script that becomes tossed aside when the executive producer is replaced with Hedda Chase. With lots of enemies and fewer friends, Hedda is not the most popular executive on the block. When Hugh challenges her about the opinion of his final scene, he locks Hedda in the trunk of her car, parks it at the airport, and reenacts scenes from his thriller intending to prove he is right. Will the woman’s screams save her? Or will she suffocate as Hugh has written in his script?

At first, the reader thinks that Hugh will release Hedda, but when he returns and the car is gone, the first in a series of chain reactions sets off a gripping and compelling story about what people do when they see their last chance slip away. In a world where he has nothing to lose and where there are no boundaries, the darker side of Hugh Waters begins to surface.

Brundage does a great job of intertwining the lives of these two main characters, including a bizarre friendship, which strikes up between Hugh and Tom, the man with which Hedda is having an affair, who becomes distraught at the thought of losing her. The reader realizes that Hugh could easily incorporate himself into this Hollywood dream lifestyle he so desires. But the downward spiral he began the day he put Hedda in the trunk of her car has knocked everything out-of-sync.

If you like thrillers, and a good old-time mystery, you will enjoy A Stranger Like You. Brundage takes a classic cat and mouse style thriller and cranks it up, keeps the momentum going until the reader believes that any of these strong, well-defined characters are pretty much capable of anything. So settle in, lock your doors, and enjoy a great thrill ride.