Reckless Disregard: A Parker Stern Novel

In Rotstein’s contrived second contemporary legal thriller featuring child actor–turned–attorney Parker Stern (after 2013’s Corrupt Practices), a video game creator known only as Poniard is in trouble. William Bishop, a major Hollywood power player, is suing Poniard because he claims that the gamer’s latest hit, Abduction!, identifies him as the kidnapper of actress Felicity McGrath, who disappeared in 1987. Poniard, who refuses to reveal his true identity, hires Stern to fight the defamation suit. The road to the truth takes a number of improbable and convoluted turns. For example, Lovely Diamond, Stern’s former lover, turns out to be Bishop’s attorney—and her son has a special link to Abduction! Readers should also be prepared for some overwrought prose (e.g., “the heart is truly the reservoir of love and emotion, because my own heart gambols and twirls and finds a jubilant equilibrium I thought was gone forever”). Agent: Elizabeth James, Sandra Dykstra Literary Agency. (June)