Jump the Gun

June 10, 2013
Children’s author Burke (Charley Harper’s What’s in the Woods?) introduces smart and sexy Annabelle Starkey, a budget-conscious fashionista with a yen for classic movies, in her adult debut, the first in a new series. Annabelle is a pushover for equally attractive and film-addicted Mickey Paxton, but their fling in Vegas is interrupted by a ham-fisted local cop who pursues the lovers out of town. Annabelle has no idea what’s going on, but clearly someone imagines that she’s hiding something valuable. Her feelings of dread and disorientation are heightened when she learns of the brutal murder of the friend who went to her San Francisco apartment to feed her cat. Crooked policemen, shifty lawyers, and scheming little old ladies crowd the twisty, screwball plot. Annabelle sometimes even doubts Mickey’s charismatic, movie-star-heroic trustworthiness. Those in the mood for a featherweight yarn with an amusing narrator could do worse. Agent: Anna Olswanger, Liza Dawson Associates.

June 1, 2013
Mystery meets romance meets noir meets caper in this overstuffed debut. Beatrice Annabelle Starkey--Bea to her dearly departed grandmother, Muffinhead to her beloved parents in Palo Alto and Annabelle to most everyone else--is something of a faithful sidekick in the movie of her own life. When she meets Mickey Paxton outside a run-of-the-mill work convention, Annabelle has a feeling she's about to make the transition to leading lady, especially when he spirits her off on a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas. No sooner have the two hit the strip than they are terrorized by Jake, a mysterious thug who holds them at gunpoint. Since Annabelle and Mickey have just met, neither knows which of them is the object of this unwelcome interest, and Jake isn't forthcoming in answering questions. The two make a narrow escape in time to meet a series of kooky supporting characters, none of them clearly friend or foe, none of them what they seem. Especially after Annabelle's quick call home indicates that even her San Francisco apartment is no longer safe ground, she and Mickey feel forced to uncover the reason for their recent rough treatment. A farcical series of events follows as Annabelle and Mickey put their new relationship to the test with their lives. Though Annabelle's obsession with movies does the story no favors, Burke's debut features an appealingly offbeat set of characters caught up in a manic plot that's likely to either charm readers or drive them crazy.

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Starred review from July 1, 2013

After an exhausting book conference concludes, Annabelle Starkey, a normally reserved publicist, throws caution to the wind when handsome Mickey Paxton, a fellow movie buff, suggests a fun getaway to Las Vegas. But things go wrong almost immediately when she's kidnapped at gunpoint in Sin City. Annabelle thinks Mickey is the problem, but it turns out, she is the reason bad guys are chasing them. Clues are neatly sprinkled through the story like bread crumbs, from the older lady with the designer hat to the cab driver who's really a Las Vegas cop and on to the assisted living residence where Annabelle's late grandmother once lived. Annabelle is horrified, though, when her friend Cassie, who was cat-sitting, is murdered in Annabelle's apartment. Now she and Mickey have a serious mission, and they aren't about to let murderers run free. VERDICT Quickly paced and so clever, Burke's debut is a winning semi-cozy caper, perfect for movie fans. She never misses a beat with her light rom-com banter, multigenerational ensemble, and sense of fun. This title makes a nice pairing with Diane Vallere's "Mad for Mod" series.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
What starts as a wacky romantic caper soon turns more dangerous in this relentlessly readable debut. Seconds after Annabelle Starkey and Mickey Paxton connect at the close of a national book convention in Chicago, he's invited her to Las Vegas. Thus begins a chase from Vegas to the San Francisco area involving some bad cops, a resident at the nursing home where Annabelle's grandmother recently died, and a lawyer who volunteered at the home, all of them after Annabelle, as it turns out, with only a suspended cop who's moonlighting as a cab driver to help Annabelle and Mickey. When Annabelle's cat-sitting friend is killed at Annabelle's apartment, things get really serious. If the underlying premise here is a little convoluted and far-fetched, it doesn't matter a lot when the action is nonstop and the sparks fly between Annabelle and Mickey, who seem to be kindred, movie-loving souls despite a certain lack of full disclosure between them. Impulsive Annabelle, speaking her mind sometimes in CAPS, is a winning protagonist, and this smart, snappy, whirlwind romantic mystery kicks off what promises to be an entertaining series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)