The Notorious Pagan Jones

Fallen starlet Pagan Jones has a chance at redemption when a mysterious film studio flack springs her from reform school with another shot at stardom. The film shoot lands 17-year-old Pagan—a struggling alcoholic who killed her father and sister in a drunk-driving wreck after her mother committed suicide—in Berlin, the city of her mother’s birth, where she seeks clues to her past while untangling a nefarious political plot unfolding in troubled 1960s Germany. Berry’s (the Otherkin series) noirish writing blends the blinding spotlight of Hollywood, the sexy world of espionage, and a smattering of real-life events and figures to create a fast-paced spy thriller. Chapter titles blare like the headlines of inky tabloids (“Killer Starlet Refuses to Shack Up with Guardian”), and Pagan’s trousseau is peppered with designer labels such as Chanel, evoking a bygone era of glamour and sophistication. Pagan is realistically flawed and complex (“Who was she tonight? Actress or drunk? A movie star, or a villain?”), using her skills on the stage to manipulate men, gain state secrets, and make a daring escape from the divided city. Ages 14–up. Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Laura Dail Literary Agency. (May)