Star Country

Few novelists have the impeccable Hollywood credentials that Robinson brings to her works, notably her tell-all memoir, Bed/Time/Story and the novel Perdido. The daughter of writer and MGM head Dore Schary, Robinson freely dispenses Tinseltown history and gossip. Perhaps her greatest resource is the admission that for those in show biz, narcissism is a genetic trait. Even Alexandra Zachary, the heroine of Robinson's sixth novel, admits to an unlovely habit of calculating her life for dramatic effect. Alexandra may have taken her TV production company, Perdido, to London, but Hollywood is her spiritual home. She flies to L.A. when she learns that TV investigative journalist Kate Stone, her best friend from childhood, has been killed in mysterious circumstances while working on a secret documentary. Alex is also bowled over by the news that her great-grandfather's famous studio, from which her family was forced out, is up for sale. Should she go after the studio--which will mean raising close to a million dollars--or search for the reasons behind Kate's death? Alex's need to juggle those priorities is complicated by her passion for gorgeous British actor/director Kingsley Ryder, who refuses to commit because he feels that two people driven by fierce ambition could not have a good marriage. Robinson adroitly interweaves her plot lines with snappy dialogue and an insider's knowledge of fascinating industry details. The themes of love, fame, ambition and greed keep the plot spinning nicely until they coalesce in a preposterous denouement that mingles child abuse, sexual mutilation and deadly family infighting. Though the over the top melodrama just might work on the silver screen, readers will undoubtedly feel they've suddenly been dropped from a Grade B movie to an X-rated clinker. (Aug.)