Double Exposure: A Novel

From Publishers Weekly Well-drawn bit players steal focus from annoying, self-centered leads in this media-centered psychosexual thriller from film and TV (7th Heaven) actor Collins (Eye Contact). Neurotic media critic Joe McBride, a hunk of putty in the hands of attractive women, is easily snared by his new neighbor, psychotic beauty Amy Goode, on the same day that he is dumped by his fiancee (his ex-wife's former best friend). After several sessions of window-to-window voyeurism, they consummate their attraction at Amy's place, where Joe meets her spooky sister, Loree, and unwittingly comes into close contact with Amy's vengeful, nuttily religious boyfriend, Dean. Joe's life gets chaotic as his job (he's a host on an all-critics cable channel) goes bust and as he starts to doubt Amy's stories about herself. Fearing but still craving Amy, he dodges her by visiting his mother, then planning a sleepover for his preschool-age daughter, Mollie, which goes awry as she disappears on a trip to the park. The cops play minor roles as Joe and ex-wife Gayle take a major gamble on Mollie's life in a surprise finale that sets up a sequel. The reader figures out the major gimmick early on, and the unappealing leads defy empathy, but the story skims over the New York scenery with the slick flash of the local news. Cable mogul Brutus Clay, his intern-earnest staff, Joe's T&A co-host Sandy Moss and his mother all cry out for further development; had Collins done so, the book might have been far more interesting. Author tour. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Second suspenser, all quite plausible until the end, by actor/novelist Collins (Eye Contact, 1994), who plays Ashley Wilkes in the TV miniseries Scarlett. Journalist Joseph McBride, a syndicated TV critic, finds himself alone in his new condo after his fiance, Mary Beth, dumps him for an editor at Simon & Schuster. Joe, a deeply attentive father, has a five-year old daughter, Mollie, with his divorced wife Gayle. Meanwhile, his tenth-floor apartment looks down on the kitchen of an adjoining ninth-floor apartment, and he becomes obsessed with the beautiful woman who lingers at the window, at times with little on. Joe is supposed to be watching cassettes of advance TV shows and meeting deadlines, but the window proves too alluring. Then the woman--knowing that he's been watching her--invites him down for hot milk and honey; just as they are having serious foreplay, her twin sister walks in drunk and passes out fully dressed. The energetic couple ignore her. When an exhausted Joe goes back to his condo, he discovers a half-clothed Mary Beth, who has changed her mind and returned to him. What to do? Then he learns that ``Amy Goode'' is not really his neighbor's name, as she says, but rather is that of a female cop in Queens, whom she pretends to be. Joe's suddenly complex life gets more complicated when Brutus Clay, a multimillionaire who wants to start up a new TV channel devoted entirely to critics, begins courting Joe. Will Joe go along with having sexpot Sandy Moss as his cohost? Will he stay with Mary Beth? Before he can decide, Mollie is kidnapped during his weekend custody, and its soon evident who has her. Thrilling this is not, but it is richly entertaining, especially in its wry portrait of broadcast television. Only that forcibly twisted climax rings false. (Author tour) --