John Belushi Is Dead

Hilda and her best friend, Benji, are obsessed with celebrity deaths—the seedier the better—and are set to spend their summer touring macabre destinations in their hometown of Los Angeles. But their stop at the apartment where a silent movie star killed himself with a pair of scissors leads Hilda to meet Hank, a gruff old man with a secret. As Benji's death obsession becomes increasingly twisted, Hilda grows closer to Hank and his cute screenwriter neighbor, Jake. Hilda's morbid fascinations stem from her parents' deaths in a car crash, but her relationships with Hank, Jake, and her aunt bring her back to the land of the living. Chock-full of gory details of famous murders, suicides, and urban legends (Belushi, the Mansons, the Black Dahlia), Charles's first novel, published in Australia in 2009 as Hollywood Ending, is not for the faint of heart, but rewards readers with chill reminders of the all-consuming nature of celebrity and the transience of life. "Death didn't just come for me, or my parents," Hilda muses, "it came for everyone: the rich and famous, beautiful and privileged." Ages 14–up. (Aug.)