A fatal affair

A 911 call from the home of Hollywood power couple Hugh Iverson and Nora Kemp opens this fast-paced and twisty thriller from Torre (A Familiar Stranger). Hugh's identical twin brother, Trent Iverson, and an unknown woman have been found dead at the estate's guest house. Hugh and Trent, sons of famed televangelist Momma Beth, were teen stars of the religious program Story Farm, and their careers diverged after that show's cancellation. Hugh moved on to Oscar-winning glory while Trent embraced a wild lifestyle and battled addiction. Torre provides shifting perspectives to tell the story, with chapters rotating points of view from different characters, including Iverson and Kemp, the sharp and wary detective Farah Anderson, the murdered woman (via her journal), and a missing child whose fate is entwined with the Hollywood drama. This approach gives the novel a jigsaw-puzzle quality, similar to the work of Lisa Jewell and Mary Kubica. VERDICT A thriller with surprises aplenty and a breezy pace that includes well-written characters and the singular challenge of looking for truth "in a sea of professional liars and seducers," this novel is sure to have wide appeal.--Jon Jeffryes

Nothing is remotely routine in Torre's heady brew of serial murder spiced with fraud, torture, impersonation, and assorted celebrity hijinks. Oscar-winning Hollywood star Hugh Iverson's house manager phones the police from Iverson's exclusive gated neighborhood in Beverly Hills to say that she's found two dead bodies. The man who's been shot through the head is pretty clearly Trent Iverson, Hugh's train wreck of a twin brother. But no one can identify the woman who's been tied to a chair and slashed to death--at least not until Torre drops this story like a hot potato to shift to that of Kyle Pepper, a plumber whose application to Protect the Children led to an invitation to his cancer-stricken son, Miles, to get a flight to Los Angeles and a VIP tour of Disneyland free of charge. Now the 6-year-old and his mother, Kerry, have gone missing, and eagle-eyed readers will instantly develop a strong suspicion about what's happened to Kerry. But they'll need all their wits to keep up with the torrent of nasty surprises that greet detectives Farah Anderson and Kevin Mathis. Not content to link these crimes in a particularly ugly way, Torre keeps pulling more rabbits from her hat. Nolan Price, a social-needs leader at Protect the Children, is hiding a terrible secret. So is Kerry Pepper. So are Hugh's pregnant fiancee, movie star Nora Kemp, and Hugh himself. And they aren't even all the same secret, though they're connected through some deep-laid plans. The roller-coaster revelations become so overheated that the tale moves deep into Jeffery Deaver territory. It's all too wildly implausible to give you nightmares, but you won't put it down till every last drop of blood has been shed. Buckle up and prepare to suspend your disbelief. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.