Book Review: "The Starlet" by Mary McNamara

Title: The Starlet

Author: Mary McNamara

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN, PUB Date: 978-1-4391-4984-3, June 8, 2010

Reviewed by: Denien Robbins for Author Exposure

Mercy Talbot was born to be a superstar. Since the age of 11 she has been in front of cameras, reciting lines and landing lead roles. Her ethereal beauty and bottomless talent ensure a career that is envied by many. At the tender age of 23, she has landed yet another leading role playing opposite a legendary male star. Unfortunately, as is often the case with stardom, Mercy battles with drug and alcohol addictions.

Juliette works at an upscale hotel for the rich and famous in Los Angeles. Personal issues send her running back to her childhood family home in Tuscany. There, her path crosses with Mercy who is shooting her latest movie in Rome. Juliette reaches out to help the self-destructive starlet, which results in the movie set relocating to her family estate.

As the story unfolds, so do the secrets. Who keeps giving Mercy drugs while on location at a sequestered location in Tuscany? Could it be her overbearing mother who has pushed Mercy since childhood? When a suspicious death from a previous shoot is reopened by investigators, officials descend on the movie set with questions.

The story is riveting and unpredictable. I found myself going back and forth between feeling sympathy for the fictional Mercy (who probably exists in the real world) and disgust for the Hollywood world. The ending certainly turned out differently than all of the scenarios I had imagined.

Readers with a liking for sensational stories about fame and fortune will likely get a great deal of enjoyment from The Starlet. It has all the classic factors of a good story with unusual twists. I would recommend it to mature readers only because it includes both drug use and sexual references.