by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 17
First published 1990
Spenser has worked many cases, but Jill Joyce presents a new challenge. The television actress stars in the hit show Fifty Minutes and carries herself with the confidence that comes with fame. She's stunning, demanding, and magnetic. She's also being stalked by someone who wants her dead. Spenser finds Joyce difficult to like at first. Her sharp tongue and entitled attitude grate against his sensibilities. But when the stalker's threats escalate from harassment to genuine murder attempts, the case becomes deadly serious. Spenser must navigate Joyce's volatile personality while tracking down an assassin who seems to know her every move. The investigation forces him to enter the artificial world of television production, where nothing is quite what it appears. As the danger intensifies, Spenser discovers that protecting Joyce means more than just keeping her alive. He must help her confront the terror that has invaded her carefully constructed life.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
320 pages · Mass Market Paperback · G.P. Putnam's Sons