The Lion’s Den

What should have been an idyllic vacation for struggling actress Belle Carter, the narrator of St. John’s propulsive if occasionally preposterous Machiavellian debut, mutates into something more akin to Survivor: St. Tropez. Though Belle’s former bestie, Summer Sanderson, the mistress of billionaire John Lyons, has ostensibly invited Belle to celebrate her birthday cruising the Riviera aboard Lyons’s yacht, along with a few other friends and family, early warning signs suggest that Lyons may have a hidden agenda, as do the plutocrats he’s meeting with. These signs include the young women being locked into their cabins at night and asked to surrender their passports as well as having only limited, monitored internet access—measures brushed off as necessary to protect the men’s privacy. Belle may have her own plans, though the true picture of the high-stakes cat-and-mouse game involving her and the ruthless Summer only becomes visible as the twisty but far-fetched plot races toward the finish. Readers prepared to overlook unconvincing characters as well as several stupefying turns of events will be satisfied. St. John dishes up a diverting poolside-ready page-turner. Agent: Sarah Bedingfield, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (June)