Shining City Book

When Marcus Ripps inherits the escort service operated by his derelict brother, he has no idea what he's getting into. He's much too philosophical, honest, and hard-working to be a pimp, and yet before long, he's able to pay off his creditors, revitalize his marriage, get a new BMW, and give his son a bar mitzvah he'll never forget. The only question now is: can he keep this business going long enough to change his life? Or will the cops get to him first?

A wild, satiric, insightful, and hysterical romp, Shining City is an L.A. adventure that will keep you guessing to the very end.

Publishers Weekly

Greenland's uproarious second novel (after The Bones ) follows the manifold ups and downs of Marcus Ripps, an unemployed and ill-fated altruist who inherits from his estranged brother an escort service run out of a Hollywood dry cleaning shop. Burdened by mounting debt and his chilly wife, Jan, and concerned that he won't be able to pay for his son's bar mitzvah, Marcus decides to become a pimp. With assistance from Kostya, his brother's former bodyguard, Marcus not only keeps the business afloat, he improves it and offers the prostitutes health insurance and retirement plans. After a john dies handcuffed to a bed, Marcus enlists Jan's help to dump the body. Eager to work with her husband, Jan joins the company, a move that improves their marriage and business, as the Smart Tarts (as Jan names the service) becomes a Web-based cash cow. (Even Jan's ailing mother gets involved.) Things turn around for the Ripps, but trouble comes when a rival pimp threatens Marcus's life. Despite some predictable plot twists and the requisite Hollywood ending, Greenland's novel is entertaining and intelligent, and packed with enough hooks (and hookers) to keep readers sucked in to the last page. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.