Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #612807 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-29
• Released on: 2006-08-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 560 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312937089
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Take one vindictive aging tycoon and three charismatic, ambitious sons; add one naïve heiress, one aspiring R&B diva, one British (titled, natch) lady of the house; throw in a dash of Russian mafia, kinky sex, a pinch of rap mogul, fabulous locations and a sprinkling of murders, and you have the ingredients for a fast-paced, glamour-heavy Collins extravaganza. Billionaire Red Diamond summons his sons from around the globe to Las Vegas to make a stunning announcement about their inheritance. Each son—Max, a real estate entrepreneur; Chris, an entertainment lawyer for the likes of Tom Cruise and Britney Spears; and Jett, a hotshot model in Italy—is battling his own private demons: a huge business deal gone sour and a bitter ex-wife; a gambling debt that's gotten out of hand; and (what else?) drug and alcohol addiction. In the midst of all the mayhem, a biracial waitress named Liberty, who aspires to be the next Mariah Carey, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when a major hip-hop record label exec comes into her life. And then there's Jett's incredible (but not consequenceless) one-night stand with a nameless pickup at a club, and Max's ex-wife Mariska's ex-Mafia life. The ever-stylin' Collins manages to tie the scattered plot lines together into another page-turning tale packed with intrigue, revenge and romance for her St. Martin's debut. 350,000 announced first printing; $500,000 ad/promo. (Feb. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In Collins' twenty-fourth novel, she turns yet again to detailing the tawdry lives of the rich and beautiful. Her latest yarn spans seven days in the lives of the Diamond family, who have gathered in New York at the request of their despotic, abusive, and much-loathed billionaire father. He has summoned his three sons to a meeting, with no explanation, and as they nervously wait, events unfold furiously around them. The sons are Max, a powerful real-estate tycoon who is about to be married for a second time; Jett, a fashion model and Alcoholics Anonymous member, who has recently slept with Max's fiancee; and Chris, a hot L.A. entertainment lawyer with a serious gambling problem. They are all battling their own inner demons, but things really come to a head during this week, the first time they have been together in years. Soon we find out that Max is being blackmailed, then his ex-wife turns up dead, brutally and mysteriously murdered. Meanwhile, Jett must deal with his growing infatuation with Max's fiancee, and Chris has gotten into serious trouble with shady figures over his gambling debts. Vintage Collins here: sex, love, betrayal, and deception. Her fans will certainly enjoy. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Her best book ever!
I love it! There is the usual assortment of Sex, Drugs, Money, Crime, Blackmail....This novel about Sex, family and relationships is her best ever. The beautiful and perky young heiress Amy Scott-Simon is engaged to marry Max Diamond, a powerful real estate tycoon (and much older than Amy). A one-night stand with Max's handsome young half-brother Jett at her bachelorette party will haunt her for some time....Then there is Chris Diamond, an entertainment lawyer, in town to meet with his brothers and Red Diamond, the boys' oddball billionaire father. Working as Red Diamond's housekeeper is the beautiful one time singer Diahann. Her cute nineteen-year-old daughter Liberty follows her own dreams of being a singer, and hip-hop mogul Damon P. Donnell pursues her (Yes, He's married). Mariska, Max's Russian ex-wife, a woman with many secrets.. secrets that ultimately lead to tragedy. I can't say more.
I'm sad that now I have to wait so long for another book from Jackie Collins

Not all about sex, drugs, bad habits
It's easy to say, "Wonderful!" "Great!" and "I loved it!" but how easy is it to say why it's those good things (and not give away any of the surprises every reader should be able to savor)? What I liked about the book:
- The 3 half-brothers have had a heck of a bad childhood, yet they do more than survive it. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the three brothers, and it was very satisfying to see them interact and grow, as people and as brothers. None of the three is perfect, but what is enjoyable is seeing how each of them faces up to various bad habits and attempts to get past it. Despite the complete rottenness of their dad, it was interesting to see what he had planned for them (and why) and how they dealt with him. The suspense of the reason for the meeting was fun.
- I liked the plot delving into more than one pond: the "secondary" characters of Liberty, her mom, her cousin Cindi and her aunt, didn't feel like secondary ones because we got to know more than the surface of them; and I loved how the author brought all the ponds together into one big ocean. The characters were sometimes predictible - but it was fun to see how the other characters discovered what I already knew, and it was refreshing to see a beautiful character with a brain and some values... and delightful to see how following what she believed in turns out for her. A bit fairy-talish, but I enjoy a good fairy tale every now and again.
- Finally, I like how the book isn't just about sex. It's a cheerful story that DOES have sex and bad habits in it, but it's got some things to remember: Surviving a tough childhood IS possible, and leaning on someone/asking for help is OK; pursuing dreams is a good thing; why some people turn out the way they do and why superficial sex and bad habits ultimately don't satisfy.

2 stars for the BORING factor
What can I say about Lovers and Players.. One word will sum it up predictable. Come on Jackie, I realize you are getting older, and you might not be out on the jetsetting Hollywood scene, but please for your readers sake, hire a car, take a walk to some of the hot cities, stop watching Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood for your plot ideas. I have read Jackie Collins from the beginning. Generally with her books you can sit back and relax with a glass or two of Chardonnay and enjoy a good storyline, and try to guess who in Hollywood she is talking about. Not this time. The majority of the characters are under-developed, therefore you have no sympathy or empathy, I mean you just plain outright don't care if or when something happens to them. But let me get back to the predictability factor, as soon as you read about the Virgin wife to be, wanting to be defrocked BEFORE the wedding, and not with her hubby to be, you can add 2 + 2 and come out with the whole subplot. The main plot was predictable, bad billionaire, who had three wrong side of the blanket sons.. COME on Jackie, we could see from page 5, what the ending was going to be. Sure the WHY was a bit of a surprise, but by then who cared?. I had the book already listed on Ebay. Next time I will save my big bucks for the hardback, and get it from the library.