From Publishers Weekly
The author of Beaches has recycled her bestselling blend of show business and devoted friends tested by tragedy into an involving story of contemporary Hollywood. Best friends since their college days 30 years past, soap opera seductress Jan O'Malley, former sitcom star Marly Bennett, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Rose Morris and studio executive Ellen Bass must face facts: they've now reached the age where their "drug of choice has become estrogen." Confronted with her TV character's possible extinction, Jan is renegotiating her contract with barracuda-like producers, while Marly is auditioning for antacid commercials. Rose's agent wants to find her a "young" writing partner, and Ellen is fighting a losing war with a pack of sexually harassing studio honchos. When Jan is shot by a mysterious intruder, the other three investigate old lovers, old friends and old secrets until they discover her attacker's identity. Dart's snappily paced tale is spiced with spot-on doses of black humor, while her insights into female friendships, as always, ring reassuringly true. Even a cliched and familiar conclusion should do nothing to hinder fans' enjoyment. Film rights to Bette Midler's All Girl Productions; author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Lacking the pathos of Beaches-despite the soon-to-be-orphaned child of a friend- this novel mixes the "friends since college theme" with some limp elements of the psychological thriller. Here, the friends are four Hollywood players (two actresses, a writer, a producer) fast approaching obsolescence as they near fifty. As they grapple with the dog-eat-dog Hollywood world, falling faces, and encroaching flab, the four contemplate their pasts and try to come to terms with their presents. The shooting of their soap opera friend, Jan, by a thwarted actress from their college days grounds them once again in the things that matter in life. Schmaltzy, yes, but fans may want this novel directed at the "Fear of Fifty" crowd.--Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
When ordinary people grow older in America, odds of success seem to grow dimmer and dimmer. If you're growing older and work in the business of show, you're really in trouble, or so Iris Dart illustrates in her latest novel (note her Beaches, 1985). Dart's characters prove the point: Jan, a soap opera star, worries that her character will be killed off to make way for a younger actress; Ellen, a studio executive, tries to cope in a very sexist environment; Rose, a screenwriter, grapples with a past success she can't get close to again; and Marly's best career move was to marry a big star. When Jan is shot by an old (and now psychotic) acquaintance, her three friends are forced to reevaluate the directions their lives have taken. Although predictable, the novel has its moments. On another level, it's about struggling to have serious feelings and aspiring to meaningful work when you live and labor in Superficial City, USA. Brian McCombie

From Kirkus Reviews
Another ensemble piece by entertainment veteran Dart (Beaches, 1985, etc.), combining armed chases with tender embraces and bah- dum-bah humor with cinematic sensibility. Four nearing-50 friends try to age gracefully in the Hollywood Hills, supporting one another in regular Girls' Nights--an opportunity to sit in the Jacuzzi and kvetch with pals. They've come a long way since college (where they met), but every day is still a struggle for women of a certain age. Jan O'Malley is a single mother/soap opera star worrying that her contract won't be renewed, considering plastic surgery, and making time for her adopted son. When a down-on-her-luck college crony, Betty Norell (who was not part of the gang), locates Jan and begs for a job, the two get into an altercation, and crazy Betty shoots Jan. This happens on a Girls' Night, so Jan's pals head to the hospital rather than the hot tub. By her bedside, they reminisce, tell stories, and sort through man, child, and career troubles. Marly Bennet, the white-haired, New Age-y, ex-TV star, relates scenes from her troubled marriage to Billy Mann, late-night TV megacomic and egomaniac. Should she dump him? Rose Schiffman knows what spending time at Mercy Hospital is: Her first husband died of cancer there, and her current spouse is a doctor who supports her floundering screenwriting career. Should she sell out to the establishment and write commercial stuff? Ellen Bass, stressed-out vice president of feature films at Hemisphere Studios, is sick of pandering to the old white boy establishment that mocks her. Should she quit? As always in Dart's books, when the girls are not delivering one-line zingers about Hollywood malaise, they are holding one another compassionately and weeping their way to resolution. The author expertly pushes buttons to activate sentimental tears and shtick-responsive laughs. Like an amiable sitcom, complete with laugh track and schlocky ending. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

ANNOTATION

Hollywood is a tough town, but for four fortysomething women--a soap opera star, the actress wife of a giant TV star, a movie studio mogul and a screenwriter--have each other to keep the wolves at bay. After an attack nearly kills one of them, the women bare their souls about their lives and the town that sucked them in when they were young.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A hard-driving movie executive. A beloved soap opera diva. A screenwriter nominated for an Oscar. A well-known actress married to TV's King of Late Night. Four women who have led charmed Hollywood lives; four friends facing middle age in the youth capital of the world. Show business sucked them in when they were young, and now it's trying its best to spit them out. But these women aren't finished fighting tooth and nail - albeit bonded tooth and acrylic nail - to enjoy the success they spent their youth pursuing. Especially when one of them ends up in the intensive care unit, a victim of a stalker with a gun. The ritual "Girls' Night" they have always shared for refuge and laughter tonight becomes a painful vigil as three women watch their friend fight for her life. And as they wait and worry they do what they have always done to keep themselves sane: tell stories about themselves. Tales of love affairs, wonderful or hilariously awful; of professional triumphs and betrayals. Bittersweet anecdotes about the sexism and ageism all four have encountered - the pain it takes to make the world believe in the glamour that is Hollywood. The stories remind them of why they're fighting and let them laugh together and celebrate the friendship that has made it all worthwhile. But beyond the hospital the stalker is still undetected, still obsessed, not just with the victim but with all four women. They have lived the sunny side of the California dream, and the attacker has been left out in the dark. Without the old bonds that have linked them for years, the women will not survive this chilling night.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The author of Beaches has recycled her bestselling blend of show business and devoted friends tested by tragedy into an involving story of contemporary Hollywood. Best friends since their college days 30 years past, soap opera seductress Jan O'Malley, former sitcom star Marly Bennett, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Rose Morris and studio executive Ellen Bass must face facts: they've now reached the age where their ``drug of choice has become estrogen.'' Confronted with her TV character's possible extinction, Jan is renegotiating her contract with barracuda-like producers, while Marly is auditioning for antacid commercials. Rose's agent wants to find her a ``young'' writing partner, and Ellen is fighting a losing war with a pack of sexually harassing studio honchos. When Jan is shot by a mysterious intruder, the other three investigate old lovers, old friends and old secrets until they discover her attacker's identity. Dart's snappily paced tale is spiced with spot-on doses of black humor, while her insights into female friendships, as always, ring reassuringly true. Even a clichd and familiar conclusion should do nothing to hinder fans' enjoyment. Film rights to Bette Midler's All Girl Productions; author tour. (Feb.)

Library Journal

Lacking the pathos of Beaches-despite the soon-to-be-orphaned child of a friend- this novel mixes the "friends since college theme" with some limp elements of the psychological thriller. Here, the friends are four Hollywood players (two actresses, a writer, a producer) fast approaching obsolescence as they near fifty. As they grapple with the dog-eat-dog Hollywood world, falling faces, and encroaching flab, the four contemplate their pasts and try to come to terms with their presents. The shooting of their soap opera friend, Jan, by a thwarted actress from their college days grounds them once again in the things that matter in life. Schmaltzy, yes, but fans may want this novel directed at the "Fear of Fifty" crowd. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/94.]-Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"A risky, brave, and witty story of the dark side of the Hollywood dream. Wonderfully written and unforgettable." — Pat Conroy