True fiction An Ian Ludlow thriller

Goldberg just won't be totally serious. He was behind television hits like Monk and Diagnosis Murder, and his urge to tease is irresistible. So he keeps interrupting this crackerjack thriller with mentions of wacky, made-up TV shows. Like the western Saddlesore. Or the cop show Hollywood & the Vine, with a hero who's half man, half plant, all cop. But this mockery is the right touch for a story of life imitating art, or trying to. Ian Ludlow's best-selling thrillers have earned him an invite from the U.S. government to concoct terrorist plots that our agents must learn to guard against. The one he comes up with is similar to the conspiracy theorists' version that has the government staging 9/11 to consolidate its power. Then it really happens. Now Ludlow knows too much and must die, and the chase is on. If the spooks can use his idea to kill people, he wonders, why can't he do the same thing to bring down the spooks? So the wild finale plays out like . . . well, like a thriller somebody wrote.--Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2018 Booklist

Early in this tongue-in-cheek series launch from Goldberg (The Job with Janet Evanovich), Ian Ludlow, author of the bestselling Clint Straker thriller series, returns to his Seattle hotel after doing a reading at a local bookstore. In the hotel bar, Ian sees a TV report that a commercial jet has crashed into a hotel on Honolulu's Waikiki beach. He backs away from the bar, fearful that someone's going to shout: "You're responsible for this!" Years before at a writers' retreat, Ian devised this exact terrorist scenario for the CIA to help the government prepare for the worst. He knows how it was done and by whom. Margo French, his minder at the book event, and Ian wind up on a road trip that takes them to Las Vegas and Southern California with assassins in hot pursuit. When Ian and Margo join forces with has-been TV star Ronnie Mancuso, who Ian knows from his script writing days, the wheels truly come off this Elmore Leonard mashed with Get Smart romp. Fans of parodic thrillers will enjoy the exhilarating ride. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.