Book Stop Corner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance.” 





Jackie Collins, world's top-selling novelist with over 30 New York Times best-sellers, pens her latest thriller from the Lucky Santangelo series, The Santangelos , where Jackie brings back her most notorious and edgy protagonist, Lucky back with a new game and new fame and with some new enemies. Although this book is a part of the Lucky series, yet it can be read as a standalone since it doesn't necessarily follow up the previous books.




Synopsis:

A vicious hit. A vengeful enemy. A drug addled Colombian club owner. A sex crazed Italian family. And the ever powerful Lucky Santangelo has to deal with them all, while Max-her teenage daughter is becoming The "It" girl in Europe's modeling world. And her Kennedyesque son, Bobby, is being set up for a murder he didn't commit. But Lucky can deal. Always strong and unpredictable with her husband, Lennie, by her side she lives up to the family motto-Never cross a Santangelo.

Lucky rules. The Santangelos always come out on top. An epic family saga filled with love, lust, revenge and passion.


Readers and reviewers have always been critical of Jackie's books since the begining of time, mostly because her stories are a raw mixture of all kinds of elements leading to a fast life- drugs, sex, blow job, revenge, fast cars, fast money, mansions, L.A, alcohol and murder, which leaves the reader with a bad hangover after the end of the book. Unlike those readers, I love to taste the very edge of a fast life with all those negative elements through her books, where Jackie is famous to re-create some of the famous and infamous characters of in and around Hollywood and from those from political strata, I like to say, Jackie re-create their lives, especially the scenes and the moves which we don't get to read about in TMZ, Entertainment, Popsugar, etc- the-behind-the-bedroom-door-drama. And mostly, I enjoy Jackie's lucid style of writing which draws me in like a drug. And I've managed to read few of her books in the past.

So let's talk about this book now,

Lucky Santangelo can't wish for anything more in her, a successful chain of hospitality multi-star hotels, a successful movie-maker husband, Lennie, a wanna-be model and who is currently trying her luck in London, Max, a son who is the owner of the most happening chains of night club in and around L.A., Bobby and her younger son, Gino Junior and not to mention, her ever-shining and ever-charming father who still managed live a life like a king, Gino. Behind this perfectly blissful life, there is someone out there who is trying to snatch away her happiness, and when Gino was left murdered, Lucky gets into action to find the killer and kill him, things get worse, when her beloved son, Bobby is arrested for a murder which he didn't commit. What will Lucky do? Who is trying to hurt her and her family?


The writing style of Jackie is very flawless and polished. From the very first stage, the mystery started getting thicker and thicker in the haze of high-profile drama and scandals. I'm forever intrigued by her style of narration, like she knows what the readers want to hear at the moment through her characters. The prose is very fast and it proves to be a quick read if you're looking for a no-fuss suspense-filled glamorous drama.

The characters too are very sophisticated and like Jackie says that they are real life people in disguise and it's very true. The characters are strongly developed and are masked with lots of flaws and faults and scandals which are taken right from the page of Hollywood and high-profile VIPs. Lucky is one of my favorite fictional characters, she can take you high and she can take you low whenever she wants, more like she is the one who is controlling the whole story. Lucky is sexy, generous, intelligent yet dangerous, edgy and powerful, which happens to be a vulnerable mix for others.

The mystery builds in right from the very first page, and with added drama and scandals, the author keeps us in the loop with the mystery running in the background. The author sidetracks the mystery by introducing a lot of crazy characters who makes the story more interesting and thrilling with their scandals and drugs. The best thing about Jackie's books is that her characters are sketched out with lots of depth and lots of back story to support their demeanor. The whole book is like taking a rolling down the streets of Vegas and L.A. in a hot-pink Benz where a rough cocktail of adrenaline, sweat and sleaze accompanies us, thus leaving us addicted to the storyline.

Verdict: A perfect book to be read in a weekend getaway and if you enjoy contemporary thriller, then grab a copy of this book now.


Courtesy: Thanks to Jackie Collin's publishers from St. Martins' Press, for providing me with an ARC of this book, in return for an honest review. 
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Author Info:

There have been many imitators, but only Jackie Collins can tell you what really goes on in the fastest lane of all. From Beverly Hills bedrooms to a raunchy prowl along the streets of Hollywood; from glittering rock parties and concerts to stretch limos and the mansions of power brokers-Jackie Collins chronicles the real truth from the inside looking out.

Jackie Collins has been called a "raunchy moralist" by the late director Louis Malle and "Hollywood's own Marcel Proust" by Vanity Fair magazine. With over 500 million copies of her books sold in more than forty countries, and with some 30 New York Times bestsellers to her credit, Jackie Collins is one of the world's top-selling novelists. She is known for giving her readers an unrivalled insider's knowledge of Hollywood and the glamorous lives and loves of the rich, famous, and infamous. "I write about real people in disguise," she says. "If anything, my characters are toned down-the truth is much more bizarre."
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Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US
• Amazon India