From Library Journal
Attorney-turned-novelist Martini (Undue Influence, LJ 6/15/94) writes about attorney-turned-novelist Abby Chandlis, who stretches the practice of ghost-writing to an extreme and perilous level. Fearful that glamour instead of grammar sells books in today's shallow publishing industry, Chandlis creates Gable Cooper, a strong, handsome, but definitely fictitious alter ego who as "author" of her new novel should assure its success. Possessed of these qualities, rugged Jack Jermaine seems ideal for the role. However, his spooky past and dangerous tendencies soon cause Abby to regret the entire scheme. This is a competent thriller, but many readers may find difficulty sympathizing with protagonist Chandlis. Recommended only for comprehensive suspense collections.?John Noel, Tennessee Tech Univ. Lib., LebanonCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In a change of venue from his courtroom settings, Martini embeds his latest mystery in the cynical world of blockbuster-book publishing. The premise: Abby Chandlis discovers that literary agents, hitherto bored by her thriller, perk up when she hides her authorship and attributes it to a male writer. Apparently nothing sells better than a first novel from a hunk with face-by-Fabio. She must tell somebody about her scam, if only to protect her contracts and copyrights, so Abby chooses reliable Morgan Spencer from her Seattle law firm. She also confides in her pal Theresa. While Morgan handles the paperwork, Abby hires a low-IQ beefcake, who then passes on the poseur's role to his brother, Jack Jermaine, an ex^-special forces marine schooled in sabotage and deception. Ducks finally in a row, Abby and Jack go to New York and succesfully hoodwink the agent and the "Big-F" publishing company, who then showers Abby with millions and demands for an instant sequel. Abby repairs to St. Croix to work on it, but she becomes terrified by her discoveries about Jack's background and his possible presence at the suspicious murders of Theresa and her ex-husband. Martini deftly conceals the killer until the flaming finale. His satirical skewering of high-octane publishing only increases this book's "buzz," which the real publisher's all-fronts publicity offensive will strive to amplify--and justify--in a 400,000-copy press run. Gilbert Taylor

From Kirkus Reviews
So you thought it was all fun and games having a breakout novel? Come listen to Martini, on leave from his series about defense attorney Paul Madriani (The Judge, 1996, etc.), spin this wild and wooly tale of a pseudonym caper from hell. Life hasn't been kind to Abby Chandlis. She's going nowhere in her Seattle law firm; her second career as a novelist is stalled; her shiftless ex is behind in his payments, leaving her dining on cat food. But Abby has an ace in the hole: a new novel that could hit the bestseller list with the force of a pile- driver. Could hit, if only Abby weren't so unglamorous (she's pushing 40), so shopworn (those old novels turn out to be worse than no help), so unpromotable. So Abby and her roommate Theresa decide to find a front, some male model who'll masquerade as ``Gable Cooper'' for a percentage of a take that stretches higher than Jack's beanstalk. And even though the front that Abby ends up with, soldier-of-fortune/failed novelist Jack Jermaine, isn't exactly what she was looking for, the two storm through a brightly malicious pipe dream of literary celebrity, as Abby sticks like glue to her supposed client's side while big-ticket agents, publishers, and producers fight over them like so many jackals. But even before take-charge Jermaine spirits his dazzled ghostwriter off to the Caribbean for some sun and sex, clouds have gathered on the horizon. Theresa has died in a suspicious accident that seems meant for Abby; Theresa's low-life husband Joey follows apace; the Seattle police are looking for Abby; so is a scandal-sheet reporter; and finally Abby wonders whether her own legal claim to her chart-busting novel might be a lot more slender than she thought--and might be based a little too exclusively on the testimony of her late friend. Absolutely irresistible balderdash--The Pelican Brief for everybody who isn't John Grisham. (First printing of 400,000; $350,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild/Mystery Guild main selection) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
A bold and successful scheme to outwit the biggest players in publishing and film animates this novel by the bestselling author of The Judge--a suspenseful thriller in which the price of fame becomes terror. Gable Cooper has penned a novel to kill for. Six million dollars in book and film rights are looming just off the table for this unknown author. But there is a problem: Gable Cooper doesn't exist. Abby Chandlis is an attorney turned novelist and the creator of Gable Cooper. In an age when glamour, not grammar, is often the secret to selling books, Abby has an intriguing plan to keep her writing career alive: find a charismatic male face to pose as the phantom author for the knock-dead thriller she has written. Jack Jermaine is a man with dangerous good looks and a shadowy past. Trained by the military to kill, his obsession is to pen a blockbuster book. He has a trunk filled with rejected manuscripts and a gnawing problem that has turned him bitter: Jack can't write. Desperate to find a man to play the role of Gable Cooper, Abby is about to give up when Jack forces his way into her life. Reluctantly she is convinced that Jack's humor and looks will clinch success for her novel. She uses her legal wits and makes a deal with the devil. Jack becomes Gable Cooper. When Jack is propelled into the orbit of celebrity, Abby finds herself at once seduced and trapped by her own creation. Success turns to terror. The story careens from the Pacific Northwest to New York City and finally through the islands of the Caribbean as Abby races for her life to the one person she can trust--the one person who can prove to the world that she wrote the novel, and put an end to the nightmare that was once her dream, the dream of making The List.

FROM OUR EDITORS

In this novel set in the seductive world of entertainment, Abby Chandliss, a struggling lawyer-turned-novelist, concocts the ultimate scheme to outwit the biggest media players in New York and Hollywood. Her success turns to terror when the man she reluctantly takes in as a partner spins wildly out of control. Now Abby must find a way to put an end to the nightmare that was once her dream. "[A]wild and wooly tale."-- Kirkus Reviews.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A bold and successful scheme to outwit the biggest players in publishing and film animates this novel by the bestselling author of The Judge - a suspenseful thriller in which the price of fame becomes terror. Gable Cooper has penned a novel to kill for. Six million dollars in book and film rights are looming just off the table for this unknown author. But there is a problem: Gable Cooper doesn't exist. Abby Chandlis is an attorney turned novelist and the creator of Gable Cooper. In an age when glamour, not grammar, is often the secret to selling books, Abby has an intriguing plan to keep her writing career alive: find a charismatic male face to pose as the phantom author for the knock-dead thriller she has written. Jack Jermaine is a man with dangerous good looks and a shadowy past. Trained by the military to kill, his obsession is to pen a blockbuster book. He has a trunk filled with rejected manuscripts and a gnawing problem that has turned him bitter: Jack can't write. Desperate to find a man to play the role of Gable Cooper, Abby is about to give up when Jack forces his way into her life. Reluctantly she is convinced that Jack's humor and looks will clinch success for her novel. She uses her legal wits and makes a deal with the devil. Jack becomes Gable Cooper. When Jack is propelled into the orbit of celebrity, Abby finds herself at once seduced and trapped by her own creation. Success turns to terror. The story careens from the Pacific Northwest to New York City and finally through the islands of the Caribbean as Abby races for her life to the one person she can trust - the one person who can prove to the world that she wrote the novel, and put an end to the nightmare that was once her dream, the dream of making The List.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The title refers to the New York Times bestseller list, which 40-ish Seattle lawyer and literary novelist Abby Chandlis hopes to climb with her own to-die-for commercial novel. Abby's experience with three previous novels that "died on the shelves," however, has made her distrust publishers. She believes that her new book will get the recognition and money it deserves only if it's associated with a devastatingly handsome male face. So she's marketing it under the pseudonym of "Gable Cooper" and winds up striking a deal with Jack Jermaine, the shadowy elder son of a South Carolina military family, to pose as the hunky writer. Abby quickly finds that this kind of barely legal deceit has nasty side effects. Her home is trashed and her best friend, Theresa, is electrocuted by a rigged fuse box. Theresa's ex, a violent drunk, turns up underwater, while Abby's own ex, a weasely lawyer, comes sniffing, lured by the scent of Abby's money. Jermaine's handsome, "dangerous" looks and demeanor, meanwhile, drive up the price of the book and its sequel into the mid-six figures. In the heat of success, Abby and Jack's business arrangement turns to romance, but there are facts Abby doesn't know about her new partnership that could get her killed. Martini (The Judge) clearly had a good time writing this fanciful book, in which he manages to incorporate multiple settings, invent gossamer disguises for important publishing personalities and skewer the machinery that produces blockbuster books. The fiery finish and final revelations put Martini's new novel squarely in the commercial territory tracked by "the list"-never mind the ironies of the book being a likely blockbuster in its own right. 400,000 first printing; $350,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild main selections. (Feb.)

Library Journal

Attorney-turned-novelist Martini (Undue Influence, LJ 6/15/94) writes about attorney-turned-novelist Abby Chandlis, who stretches the practice of ghost-writing to an extreme and perilous level. Fearful that glamour instead of grammar sells books in today's shallow publishing industry, Chandlis creates Gable Cooper, a strong, handsome, but definitely fictitious alter ego who as "author" of her new novel should assure its success. Possessed of these qualities, rugged Jack Jermaine seems ideal for the role. However, his spooky past and dangerous tendencies soon cause Abby to regret the entire scheme. This is a competent thriller, but many readers may find difficulty sympathizing with protagonist Chandlis. Recommended only for comprehensive suspense collections.-John Noel, Tennessee Tech Univ. Lib., Lebanon

AudioFile - Don Wismer

George Guidall is an excellent and widely experienced audiobook reader. Here he deals with contemporary suspense fiction, a book abounding in bad language and mild sexual situations, but graced otherwise by a fast-paced plot and fairly believable characters. An aging female novelist comes up with a front man to pose as the author of her blockbuster new novel, but the fellow may not be what he seems. There are murders and chases, high finance, sabotage, booby traps and one exploding house. Guidall￯﾿ﾽs charm is that he reads deliberately yet keeps a sense of intensity. D.W. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner. ￯﾿ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

So you thought it was all fun and games having a breakout novel? Come listen to Martini, on leave from his series about defense attorney Paul Madriani (The Judge, 1996, etc.), spin this wild and wooly tale of a pseudonym caper from hell.

Life hasn't been kind to Abby Chandlis. She's going nowhere in her Seattle law firm; her second career as a novelist is stalled; her shiftless ex is behind in his payments, leaving her dining on cat food. But Abby has an ace in the hole: a new novel that could hit the bestseller list with the force of a pile- driver. Could hit, if only Abby weren't so unglamorous (she's pushing 40), so shopworn (those old novels turn out to be worse than no help), so unpromotable. So Abby and her roommate Theresa decide to find a front, some male model who'll masquerade as "Gable Cooper" for a percentage of a take that stretches higher than Jack's beanstalk. And even though the front that Abby ends up with, soldier-of-fortune/failed novelist Jack Jermaine, isn't exactly what she was looking for, the two storm through a brightly malicious pipe dream of literary celebrity, as Abby sticks like glue to her supposed client's side while big-ticket agents, publishers, and producers fight over them like so many jackals. But even before take-charge Jermaine spirits his dazzled ghostwriter off to the Caribbean for some sun and sex, clouds have gathered on the horizon. Theresa has died in a suspicious accident that seems meant for Abby; Theresa's low-life husband Joey follows apace; the Seattle police are looking for Abby; so is a scandal-sheet reporter; and finally Abby wonders whether her own legal claim to her chart-busting novel might be a lot more slender than she thought—and might be based a little too exclusively on the testimony of her late friend.

Absolutely irresistible balderdash—The Pelican Brief for everybody who isn't John Grisham.