A Stranger Like You — Elizabeth Brundage

Greed leads to destruction; lust leads to obsession; love leads to happiness; deception leads to chaos; compassion leads to resolution; knowledge leads to prosperity; indulgence leads to decadence; decadence leads to ruin

In Hollywood, every story begins with a premise, every action has a consequence. Screenwriter Hugh Waters is confident of his script's direction when he gets on a plane bound for Los Angeles; his plan is just to have a talk with Hedda Chase, the young Ivy League studio executive who pulled the plug on the film deal that was about to change his life. But when the conversation goes awry and Hedda declares his story implausible, Hugh decides to prove her wrong. He reenacts his terrifying ending -- casting Hedda as victim. Now her destiny, and her brilliant career, hangs in the balance. Set against the high-voltage backdrops of Hollywood, a tense film set in Abu Dhabi, and the back roads of Death Valley, A Stranger Like You is a taut and provocative novel about three unforgettable characters whose lives become impossibly bound. It's about who gets to tell the story, and the lengths to which we'll go to make our dreams come true.