Whacked Book

From Jackie Collins to People magazine, authors and press alike have lauded Whacked as a dark and sexy guilty pleasure. Parade, Real Simple magazine, the New York Post, and the Houston Chronicle all selected Whacked as a summer reading pick, and author Jules Asner was featured everywhere from Good Morning America to the Los Angeles Times.

Life promises to be perfect for Dani Hale. She has an almost-perfect boyfriend named Dave and a dream job writing for the TV crime series Flesh and Bone that allows her to indulge her macabre forensic passions. But something isn't quite right with her relationship, and Dani-a wily and inventive snoop-learns that Dave's real creative talents are (1) lying and (2) cheating on her. Soon she is plunged into the world of Los Angeles singledom, enduring a battalion of bad dates with men whose peccadilloes would drive a lesser woman to kill. At her wit's end, Dani is driven to a dramatic extreme that is as shocking as it is sensible in the girl-eat-girl world of Hollywood.

Praised by critics as the perfect beach read, Jules Asner's Whacked is a wicked tale of relationships, betrayal, and very modern revenge.

Publishers Weekly

Asner-ex-model, wife of director Steven Soderbergh and E! Entertainment Television personality-debuts with a dishy mix of Tinseltown hackdom, chick lit and, surprisingly, a chilling plot. Dani Hale is an L.A. TV writer for crime show Flesh and Bonewho has an inordinate interest in all things forensic-one shared by technical adviser Rich Pisani, a retired LAPD cop. "None of this stuff bothered me," Dani boasts about crime scene analysis. But what does bother her is slow-to-commit boyfriend and director Dave; the pretty actress he's directing, Chloe Johnson (whom Asner slyly credits as having worked with Soderbergh); her Crate and Barrel saleswoman mom; and work rival "Evil Janet." But where other chick lit heroines fret about their fears, Dani hacks into e-mails and cellphones to alleviate hers. After discovering Dave has been cheating on her, Dani plots revenge on him, freckled harlot-starlet Chloe and office boor Evil Janet, but things quickly spiral out of control. Asner juggles horror and giggles and wraps it up with a subtle kicker, and though Rich's role is underwritten, the novel is still tons of fun. (June)

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