Tag Line: Lights...camera...murder.From the Back of the Book: Dead Ringer. Candayce Townsend can't believe her luck when a famous film director asks her to take the place of a missing actress on his newest movie. With the help of some Hollywood magic, Candayce soon becomes the exact double of India Isaacson. In fact, her transformation is so complete that soon everyone believes she really is India. Including a serial madman known as "The Autograph Killer" who's hiding in the shadows. Watching Candayce's every move. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Author's Note: The bad guy in this book is NOT referred to as "The Autograph Killer" anywhere except for the back blurb. I hate it when the blurbs don't match the actual book. It's a huge pet peeve of mine.
Validity Confession: This book is not a Point Horror. It's a Z-Fave YA Horror.
This book was published in 1995. I've never heard of it or read it prior to this recap. We found it on a used bookstore shelf and thought it might be a good one for the blog.
So here we go...
I think we're starting with a bad guy
prologue, y'all. I HATE bad guy prologues.
Someone who calls himself “Devoted”
has just killed Samantha (18) who took longer to die than he
expected. Samantha was a rising tennis star and, at some point before
she died, she sent Devoted an autographed picture. Devoted takes it
out of his album. He puts some blood on Samantha's lips and then
presses the picture to them so that a “kiss” of blood is left on
the photo. Then he sprays a preserving additive onto to it to dry it
and puts it back in his album. The next autographed picture in his album is of
an actress – India Isaacson. He's looking forward to adding
her “kiss” to his collection.
I can see why the back of the book called him "The Autograph Killer". Too bad the book didn't.
As far as a bad guy prologue
goes, that wasn't awful. It was a nice, creepy way to start a book.
We begin with our protagonist Candayce
Townsend and I REFUSE to type in that stupid name ever again.
Baron should seriously be smacked for that monstrosity. I notice
that he calls her best friend by her initials, so I'm just going to do
that and call our protagonist CT. Anyway, CT is walking
through a crowded mall at 2pm and she's sure she's being followed.
She knows her friend Valery
Juliet........seriously, Baron, can you not spell ANY name
correctly.....would make a grand adventure out of it. VJ, as
Baron has decided to call her, would tell CT that they were just
about to be discovered by a world famous modeling scout and whisked
away to live the Tyra Banks life. CT tries to let that comfort her
as she walks along, but she's jumpy and scared. She zigs and zags
all over the mall, but the balding man sticks with her. Soon he's
joined by an “ancient”....ie: 30ish...woman with red hair and the
pair of them keep dogging CT's every move.
Finally she remembers a classmate named Ted is working at the music store and she
hightails it that way. He's an athlete and big enough that she feels
safer when she's near him. She tells him she's been followed all
through the mall for more than an hour and he immediately spots her
pursuers. They're just bad at being inconspicuous. So not 007. He
asks CT if he should go kick their asses but she says she really
wants to know who they are and why they're stalking her first.
CT goes to confront them and they
identify themselves as Reggie Siesmasko (director) and Ellen
Parker (producer). They hand CT cards and say they have an offer
for her but she blows them off. Ellen rattles off some names of
moves and tells CT to go inside the store and check the boxes because
their names will be on them. They hand CT their driver's licenses
for further proof. She takes them and goes back inside the store to
check them out.
CT checks them out and discovers they
are on the up and up. Shaking, she goes back out to talk to them.
Reggie says she looks like someone they know and they want to offer
her an opportunity.
We timehop to that evening. Reggie and
Ellen are sitting in CT's living room waiting to talk to her mom
(Susan) about the job. Everyone is sworn to absolute secrecy.
Reggie is directing a film in town staring India Isaacson. They
both make comments about how terrible India is and how she only cares
about herself. Two days ago, India threw a huge fit, stormed off set
and hasn't been seen since. They can't finish the film without
her......or at least without someone who looks like her.
CT protests that she doesn't look a
thing like India. Ellen pulls out a shot of India without makeup and
suddenly CT can see a resemblance. Ellen hauls out a contract and CT
sees that she'll be paid more than her mom makes in an entire year as a nurse.
Reggie says there are some conditions. No one....not even the other
people on set....can know that she's not India. They say it will be
easy because India was so stuck up that she never spent time with
anyone off set and never talked to anyone out of character. CT asks
what will happen if India shows up and they say she'll get paid
anyway. Plus there's a huge completion bonus. But she has to sign
tonight or they'll have to shut the movie down.
CT isn't sure she wants to do it. It
would be better than her job slinging burgers, but she won't be able to tell anyone that she was in the movie. She glances through some
of the production photos while she's thinking and sees Bo
Hendricks. He's on some soap that she and her mom watch and he's
a total hunk. She asks Ellen if she'll get to kiss Bo and Ellen says
yes. CT signs immediately.
Good to know the girl has her
priorities straight.
We timehop a bit. Ellen has taken CT
to get her hair dyed blonde like India. Now she's on set in the
makeup trailer. The makeup artist, Maya (no last name given),
is the only other person in on the secret. She assures CT that
everything will go smoothly. It takes a couple of hours but when all
is said and done, CT becomes India.
CT is looking forward to working with
Bo and is super excited to meet him. She seems to have forgotten
that she's supposed to be India and India has been working with Bo
for weeks and would, therefore, not be so excited to meet him. When
Bo arrives on set, he is curt to CT, hurting her feelings. Seems
like she's also forgotten that India is a bitch and no one likes her.
Bo is in a mood because someone stole his custom-made bicycle.
CT is hurt anew with each person she
comes into contact with. They all seem to hate her. Um, yeah,
sweetie. Remember, you were TOLD this. You knew it coming in. But
she seems to think that they should just know she's a different
person and give her a clean slate. By the time she makes it on set,
she's a mess. The scene starts and her mind goes blank. She can't
remember her lines and she's terrified. Luckily for her, it's an
emotional scene so her shaking and tears are actually in character.
Even when she yells “I just want it to stop” and runs off
the set, it fits the scene and is usable. Bo is impressed.
Before she can say or do anything else,
she suddenly spots Bo's bicycle hanging from the rafters. Everyone
laughs.
Things go pretty well for the rest of
the morning. When they break for lunch, CT notices a woman and a
little boy with Down Syndrome appear on set. Everyone else is busy,
including Bo who is talking to Reggie, so she wanders over and asks
if they need help. The woman says that Bo is her son. CT
kneels down and starts to tell Bo's brother the story about Bo's
bicycle being hanged in the rafters. Everyone thinks it's hilarious.
Suddenly Bo rushes over looking upset to find “India” talking to
his family. CT is stunned that he'd think she was being mean or
something.
Y'all. I want to slap this girl. She
KNOWS that India is an awful person and everyone thinks she's a
heinous bitch. She knows this. And she knows she's supposed
to be India. First
of all, she broke character and could have ruined everything simply
by talking to Bo's family But she has no right to be so wounded and
surprised at how she's being treated. She's “India” for fucks
sake and she's being treated like India would be treated. Argh,
she's annoying as hell.
Bo's brother has taken a liking to her
and asks her to stay with him. Bo is reluctant but asks her to come
to lunch with him and his family. CT should refuse the invitation in
order to stay in character, WHICH IS WHAT SHE IS BEING PAID TO DO,
but she happily accepts.
Idiot.
It turns out Bo hasn't seen his family
in months. His mother and brother (John) flew down to surprise
him. CT feels awkward about being in the middle of the family
reunion, but John has latched onto her hand and won't let go. Bo's
family seems real and unaffected (including Bo and I like him
already).
Reggie spots the group and is furious.
He goes to find Ellen and tells her that CT is fucking everything up
and she better go in there and fix it before the whole thing is in
shambles. He tells Ellen to tell CT to get to her trailer and stay
there until someone comes to get her. Ellen rushes off to save the
day.
Bo's mother is talking to CT about John
when Ellen reaches the table. Ellen sits down with the group just as
CT is telling them that she did some candy striping at a local
hospital. Bo expresses some confusion at the idea but Ellen rushes
to say that “India” was preparing for a role.
On their way back to the set, a
deliveryman comes up to CT with a huge bouquet of white roses. The
card is empty except for the word “Devoted” printed on it. Ellen
takes the flowers and stomps off to make a phone call to security to
batten down the hatches some more.
Later in the luxury hotel room that
“India” is staying in, Ellen tries to talk to CT about the script
and some other things. CT is too busy daydreaming about Bo and
feeling very happy with herself to listen. Susan arrives and is
stunned at how much CT looks like India now. Ellen seems annoyed
that CT isn't taking her job very seriously.
We get a little background on the movie
they are making. India's character has a doppelganger who is ruining
all her relationships. The doppelganger stuff was already done by
India. CT needs to fill in some of the “good guy” stuff to
finish up the movie.
Ellen feels ignored and Susan is
dismayed by how excited CT seems to be living India's life. She even
gets to keep the clothes and jewelry that India left
behind......which I'm pretty sure is THEFT, Baron. No way in hell CT
would just be allowed to keep that stuff unless it belonged to the
studio itself. I'm pretty sure you can go to jail for just keeping
someone else's wardrobe.
Bo shows up with more roses and tells
CT how good he feels about that day's shooting and how thankful he is
for how she treated John. He asks her to go out to a club and she
happily accepts. She's a pretty crappy India and I'm betting Ellen
and Reggie are going to be regretting this super hard later.
Bo and faux-India go to a club where
they are immediately recognized and mobbed. The manager leads them
to a table and has the bandleader instruct the crowd to leave them in
peace. They drink cokes and make small talk. Eventually Bo asks her
to dance. They dance for awhile and then take a break. People come
asking for autographs and they do that for awhile. CT wonders if
anyone will ever compare hers to India's and realize she's a fraud.
They get up to dance again and end up dancing with other people.
In the crowd, CT is suddenly grabbed
from behind and held tight against someone she can't see. A voice
whispers: “You're going to be mine. Fight if you want, but in
the end it's always the same. I worship you. You might say, I'm
devoted to you.” The man kisses her on
the back of the neck and then vanishes into the crowd before she can
identify him.
Bo sees nothing and when she tells him
what happened, he shrugs it off. He says it comes with the fame and
sometimes people can be really forward. He figures it's harmless.
She isn't so sure.
Baron actually does creepy pretty well.
It's a nice change from Stine who tries to be creepy and just ends
up ridiculous.
The next morning they are on location.
They have to do a scene where they are diving into a pool and
swimming. Maya comes to get CT and Bo so they can have waterproof
makeup applied. While she is working on them, Maya complains about
trying to lose weight and only gaining weight instead. CT remarks
that she should talk to a nutritionist because all the diet soda and
things are probably slowing down her metabolism. Maya asks how she
knows so much about it and CT brainlessly says her mom is a nurse.
Maya freaks out and tries to cover because India is an orphan.
CT is SO bad at this, y'all.
They go to do the scene but CT is
clearly afraid to dive into the water. Bo starts goofing off to
loosen her up and they end up rolling without the stars even knowing
it. CT eventually dives into the water and propels back up to the
surface but she comes up under the diving board and bashes her head.
Is...is this possible? Is the diving board
that close to the water? And wouldn't she have dove outward, away
from the board and thus not come up directly under it? This doesn't
make much sense to me.
She's bleeding and needs to go to the
ER. Bo and Ellen take her and she's panicked the entire time that
her cover is about to be blown. Sure, NOW she worries about that.
She doesn't give a fuck 99% of the time but when she's bleeding
profusely from a head wound, she's all about being India. Anyway,
she's recognized as “India” and the hospital says they'll take
care of everything. Ellen pays with a studio credit card and no one
is the wiser. Well, until her mom gets wind of it.
Susan is working at the hospital when
she hears about the accident. She comes bursting into the exam room
right as CT is getting stitches. She almost blows the cover and ends
up getting yelled at by the doctor for trying to get a glimpse at the
“celebrity”.
That evening, after her shift, Susan
shows up at the hotel. She isn't happy with Ellen or the production
and starts making noise about wanting CT to quit. CT refuses. Her
mom is upset because she misses CT at home and CT makes a bitchy
crack about her mom being gone so much that it shouldn't matter. It
wounds her mother who replies that she's working full time and going
to school to try to make a better life for them both. CT yells that
she is trying to do the same thing by being in this movie.
A knock on the door interrupts. No one
is there but there's a box sitting on the floor. It's chocolates and
it's from Devoted. The card reads “I hope I didn't frighten
you. I'll love you forever and ever.” When CT flips the card
over, she can see that the entire back is filled with the words “and
ever” written over and over.
CT has a nightmare that night about
doppelgangers and awakens with a scream. She realizes she fell asleep
studying her script and reflects on how stupid the movie actually is.
A teen girl is terrorized by a doppelganger but no one knows at
first if it's something paranormal or just an unhinged person. It
turns out to be an evil twin separated at birth. CT's pretty sure
she can write better crap than that, but she's glad to be doing the
movie with Bo.
Okay, I just thought of something.
They're trying to keep this switch so super secret but India is out
there somewhere, right? What if she's seen getting a burger or
shopping or something across the country from where she's supposed to
be? Wouldn't that ruin everything? What if she's photographed on a
beach in the south of France? The whole stupid premise of this book
hinges on India staying completely out of sight. But there's no one
to actually make her do so and she's made out to be a fame-whore who
loves publicity. Baron, you needed more work on this concept. You
should have thought this one through just a tad bit harder.
Anyway, CT does a smart thing because
this is NOT a PH book and she finds Ellen to tell her everything
about Devoted. Ellen goes pale but recovers quickly. She tells CT
that it's probably harmless and these things happen but she doesn't
blow it off. She takes it seriously and says she'll alert security
to be extra vigilant. Afterwards, Ellen goes to Reggie's room to tell
him that CT is being stalked and the person knows what room she's
staying in. Reggie doesn't take it seriously at first. Ellen knows
the only way to get his attention is to suggest that Devoted might be
a reporter. When Reggie hears that, he's suddenly serious. They
plan to use the switch as a publicity tool when the film is released
(Can you spot the real India?) but if it gets out early, it will be
useless. Reggie is so happy with CT that he's even planning to
reshoot some of India's scenes with CT in the role. They talk about
how no one has heard from India yet but Reggie's sure she's fine.
Ellen says they have to make sure CT is safe and Reggie agrees.
There's a lot of waiting around on set
that day and everyone's bored. CT mostly hangs out with Bo and Maya
but at some point they're joined by a woman named Mary. Mary
is playing the best friend in the movie but it's clear to CT that
Mary hates “India”. Finally they're called to do the scene. It
takes place in CT's character's bedroom. At this point in the story,
CT's character still thinks that she is going crazy and doing things
that she doesn't remember. The best friend is supposed to show her
video footage on the computer of something the doppelganger did while
CT's character was with other people, proving that the doppelganger
exists and is the bad guy.
When the footage rolls, instead of what
she was supposed to see, CT is treated to a montage of India acting
like an absolute bitch. It shows her screaming at the cast and crew
and throwing things around and generally being a shrew. CT is
horrified. The crew and Mary begin to laugh as CT starts to cry.
Mary screams that this new innocent act may be fooling others but it
isn't fooling her. Reggie and Ellen are furious. Reggie fires the
sound man that helped set up the prank and tells Mary that she's
almost unemployed. Mary is livid and continues to spew hate all over
“India”. The chapter ends with Bo holding CT as she cries and
Reggie wishing they were still rolling.
We timehop. I'm not sure if it's that
night or another night. Bo has somehow obtained a key to the indoor
hotel pool. There's a sign on the door indicating that this pool is
not to be used. CT is worried but Bo tells her that they probably
just didn't have enough lifeguards to work both the indoor pool and
the outdoor pool that evening and all the other guests have chosen
the outdoor pool. He assures her that Reggie will make it go away if
they get in trouble. CT is anxious to be with him even if it's just
to practice the diving scene.
They get in the water and things get
close and romantic. They kiss and then suddenly the lights go out
and they hear footsteps. CT's mind immediately goes to a horror
movie scenario while Bo tells her that an employee just probably
noticed the lights on and turned them off so people would know the
pool was closed for sure. She clings to him and he can tell that
she's super frightened. She doesn't even let him go for towels,
insisting that they have to leave the area immediately. Outside in
the hall, Bo expresses concern and asks her if she feels she can talk to him. CT is flustered by everything and
tells him that things have just been weird lately but she doesn't
think it's a big deal.
CT decides she needs to talk to someone
about her feelings for Bo. Ellen and Maya are really her only safe
choices but they're just so old in her eyes. She decides to call her
friend VJ even though VJ has a big mouth and can't ever keep a
secret. They decide to meet at the mall in an hour.
Before CT can leave, there's a knock at
the door. She opens it to find a good-looking young man with black
curly hair, a mustache (yuck) and a big build. He's wearing a
uniform that says “True Blue Security”. He tells her that Ellen
has asked him to stop by and go over some security measures with CT
and CT just fucking lets him in her door.
The stupidity of this girl continues to
take me by surprise and it shouldn't. Given her history, it really
shouldn't.
The dude goes over basic things like
using the peephole and the chain on the door. He tells her to get an
answering machine to record phone calls and to look into a bodyguard.
He brings up all the young starlets who had been murdered by
stalkers. It's all super creepy but CT has her head firmly up her
own ass and isn't alarmed. Thankfully, he leaves without incident
and she skips right out the door without a second thought to anything he
just said.
CT meets VJ in front of the mall. VJ
is super excited to see her and tell her all about the trip to
Mexico. CT barely listens though. She's much more into telling VJ
all the things she's not supposed to tell her. She tells her friend
about the movie and pretending to be India and falling in love with
Bo. VJ is a good friend which is so rare in these damn books. VJ's
excited and happy for CT and thinks she ought to tell Bo the truth
about who she is. CT begins to consider it, but thinks Bo might be
pissed that he was lied to. They both go giggling through the mall
never noticing they are being followed.
The next day CT is stunned when VJ
shows up outside the gates. She's furious with VJ and wonders in her
mind how she was ever friends with such a self-centered bitch. VJ
could ruin everything and then CT would lose Bo and the money. Seriously, CT? YOU are the one who violated your contract. You never should have blabbed in the first place. VJ
doesn't understand what the big deal is. She just wants to look
around. She tells CT to tell people that she's the head of the India
fan club. Reggie and Ellen are pissed and reluctant, but they allow
her to stay. VJ meets Bo and gets to watch filming. She calls CT by
her real name once but no one seems to notice.
After filming, CT takes VJ back to her
trailer. When she opens the door she sees all her clothes slashed
and the word “Devoted” written all over every flat surface.
CT takes VJ to Maya and then runs to
find Ellen. While she's talking to Ellen, CT references the security
guy from the other night and Ellen is alarmed. To no one's actual
surprise, she never sent a security guard to CT's room and now they
know the guy was probably actually Devoted. CT can't remember a thing about
what he looks like. It was probably a disguise anyway. Reggie and
Maya join them in the parking lot and are filled in. Maya reveals
that she carries a concealed weapon and offers to keep an eye on CT.
She tells Reggie to move them into another motel and she'll be CT's
roommate. She'll also stick to her on set. I don't know if this
means that she'll go everywhere with CT or not, but a deal is struck.
Afterwards, CT asks Maya where VJ is
and Maya says she's with Bo. CT wigs out at the thought of
loose-lipped VJ being left with Bo and she races off to find them.
We hop over to Bo and VJ. He takes her
to the special effects room where a grumpy guy named Marty is in
charge. I keep hoping he's Devoted but that's probably wishful
thinking. Anyway, Bo shows VJ around and she's bored. She prods at
him about his relationship with “India”. He's reluctant to talk
about it, but she just won't let it drop. He finally says he likes
her. She's showing new sides to herself that he finds intriguing but
he wishes she wasn't in the “business”. VJ opens her mouth to
reveal all but is stopped by the convenient arrival of CT and Maya.
We take a jarring hop into Mary's head
now. She's leaving the set and fuming the entire way. She was
forced to apologize to "India" in order to save her job and she's not
happy about it. She still has hopes of getting even with “India”
at some point. As she gets into her car, someone in the backseat
grabs her by the throat. A man's voice tells her that she wasn't
very nice to India the other day. He knows all about not being nice
and maybe he can teach her a few things. The chapter ends without
telling us if she's being killed or simply apprenticed.
Maya and CT get settled into their new
suite and their new situation. Bo arrives to take CT out on their
date and is taken aback when CT announces that Maya is joining them.
They don't explain anything to him. They just tell him that Maya is
lonely. Bo is gracious about it. On the drive to the restaurant, CT
starts worrying about what will happen if Bo wants to have sex. She
isn't sure she will have the willpower to say no but she also feels
mortified about bringing up the issue of protection. For now, she's
glad Maya is with them so it won't come up.
CT, baby, let me tell you something....
If you're too embarrassed to ask a guy to wear protection, then you
are not at all ready to be having sex. That's the rule. If
you can't maturely talk to the guy about wearing a condom, then
you're not mature enough for the horizontal mamba. You can't be
wishy-washy about protecting yourself. It's way too
important.
The restaurant is fabulous and Bo is
being his usual charming self. CT is convinced that he's going to
confess his love any minute. She's trying to figure out how to break
the news to him that she's not India. He pulls her onto the dance
floor away from Maya and she's sure this is her big moment. To her
utter surprise, instead he tells her that things aren't going to work
between them. Their schedules will eventually tear them apart. He
says he just wants to get through the movie without them hurting each
other and he hopes they can always be friends. Broken-hearted she
agrees.
We hop into Reggie's head. He's
sitting in his car outside of the apartment building where Mary is
living during production. All of the minor stars are in apartments
instead of motels because it's far cheaper. He's there to fire Mary
and he's not looking forward to it. The window is dark in her
apartment but he knocks anyway. The door swings open on it's own and
he can smell blood.
So Mary is dead. It's described in
incredibly gory detail and the level of violence in a book aimed at
teens shocked me. I refuse to recap this scene. Let's just say that
she's dead. And move on.
For a reason that escapes me, Reggie
just backs out the apartment. He doesn't call the police. He makes
sure no one has seen him and he leaves. He figures if Ellen asks,
he'll just say he left a message on Mary's machine but didn't reach
her. She's not due on set for awhile anyway and he figures someone
will discover her body before he needs to worry about the crew asking
questions about where she is.
It's the next day on set. CT is grumpy
and snapping at people because Bo doesn't want to be her true love
4eva. She sees Bo and Reggie whispering together while glancing at
her and becomes suspicious that they are going to do something awful
to her. I have no idea why she thinks this. Bo has been nothing but
nice to her so far.
They break for awhile and CT heads over
to get some food. On the way, she trips over a piece of equipment
and it topples over, almost hitting her. The tech, Mike, is
concerned but she thinks he reminds her a little of the fake security
guy and she wonders if he pushed the equipment over in an attempt to
do her harm. She starts to help him pick it up, but it's hot and
she's not wearing gloves, so she pulls her hand away. When she does,
some bloody blonde hair is stuck to it. She wonders if the heavy
piece of equipment was used to kill the real India. She tries to
show Reggie but he's furious with her for interrupting him.
You know.....Reggie had no problem with
leaving Mary's body to be discovered by someone else. It makes you
wonder if he did the same thing with India's body. But then again,
if Devoted had already killed India, he wouldn't be bothering with
CT. Never mind.
CT goes to Maya and tells her that she
thinks Reggie....and maybe Bo....killed India and they're going to
kill her next. Maya talks her down and reminds her that Reggie needs
the movie finished or his career is tanked. There's no way he'd kill
her before the movie is done. CT isn't fully reassured by this.
Maya thinks she's being ridiculous and the only person she needs to
fear is Devoted. They discuss what would happen if India's manager
gets word that she's been replaced and what would happen if
Entertainment Tonight got wind of the story. Maya alludes to some
problems that Bo may or may not have had in the past and says he's turning his
life around.
CT calls VJ for help investigating Bo.
VJ finds several articles detailing Bo's alcohol problems and brings
them to set. While they're talking, VJ looks over CT's shoulder and
is startled. She says she saw a girl who looked exactly like CT
standing between a couple of the buildings. CT thinks it might have
been India's ghost but tells VJ that it was probably her stand-in,
Lea. From a distance, Lea resembles CT. In fact, when she
first saw the stand-in, she wondered why they just didn't use her to
sub for India but then when she got closer, she realized that Lea was
way too old.
The next morning, CT calls her mom to
check in. Her mom is clearly distraught. She says that she's being
fired. A mistake was made while medicating a patient and she was blamed and she might even get
sued. CT is worried but instead of comforting her mom, she says she
has to get to work and then hangs up.
Reggie appears, upset, and demands to
talk to CT. He tells her that he just got off the phone with the
LAPD. They've found a car and a body in a ravine. The body is too
badly burned to get a positive ID, but India's purse is nearby so
they are assuming it's her for now. Of course, this complicates
things. The secret will be out soon. The police are keeping it from
the press until they notify her next of kin (whoever that may be) but
eventually word will get out.
They discuss what to do and decide to
do nothing for the immediate future. Finishing the movie before
India's next of kin is paramount. If they don't, production might
get shut down and CT won't get the money she now desperately needs.
They come up with a plan. If India is indeed alive, they figure
she'll come out of her rabbit hole as soon as she hears about the
accident. They'll deal with that if it happens. If she doesn't
appear, they can assume that the body is hers and this is where it
gets extremely stupid. I was liking this book up until this part.
Sigh. Anyway, if India is dead, CT will take over her life. She'll
appear and make a statement that the rumors of her death have been
greatly exaggerated. She'll announce that it was actually a friend
who died in the accident and then she'll just go forward as India for
the rest of her life.
Oh, good plan. {sarcasm}
Later that night they are back in the
hotel room. Maya wants to go to church the next morning so CT has to
come with her. CT throws a very childish fit about not wanting to
go. She doesn't seem very grateful to Maya for volunteering to be
her body guard. Least she can do is go to church so
Maya doesn't have to miss something that's important to her. Maya
goes to bed and CT decides to go up to the next floor to do some
laundry.
She's dumb. Just so dumb.
As she leaves her room, she sees the
“security guard” down the hall talking to Bo. She is sure that
the security guard is Devoted. She waits until he leaves and then
goes to confront Bo. Bo won't tell her who the guy was or why they
were talking. He basically tells her it's none of her business and
to bug off. Which is fair. Bo doesn't know she's being stalked and
is scared of that man. If he did, he might be willing to answer her
questions.
CT rushes back to her room to wake up
Maya and tell her all about it. Maya calls Ellen who wants to
conference Reggie in on the call. CT won't let her. She tells Ellen
that she saw Bo and Reggie conspiring together earlier in the day.
Ellen shoots that down. Reggie wants to extend shooting to redo some
of India's work. Bo isn't happy about it because he wants to leave
to audition for the new Jack Reacher movie. Ellen says she'll talk
to Bo the next day and get him to tell her who he was talking to so
they can figure out who the fake security guard is.
The next morning they arrive on set.
The gate guard is confused because he already let “India” on set.
Maya and CT just brush it off without even giving it any thought.
Which is dumb. Really dumb. In the hair and make-up trailer, Maya
discovers that the shampoo and hair spray she usually uses on CT is
gone.
Strange things keep happening all day.
Lea the stand-in is pissed because “India” was rude to her
earlier. Bo is mad because “India” told a rude joke to some of
the crew that made fun of people like his brother. “India” was
rude to the wardrobe lady. CT knows she's done none of this. She
thinks Reggie is staging it to get a better performance out of her.
In other words, he's hired a doppelganger to make CT a better actress
by putting her through what her character is going through in the
movie. She confronts him about it but he has no idea what she's
talking about.
Maya thinks a practical joke is being
played on CT but Ellen things CT is losing her mind. She thinks CT
is doing these things without remembering them. Which would be
pretty fucking impossible if Maya was with her all the time.
THINK,
PEOPLE.
Baron, you've been better than this up
until now. Pull yourself together, dude. Don't do this to me. I
liked this book until it all fell apart when “India's” body was
discovered.
CT wants to get away from everything so
she has Maya drive her to VJ's house. Once there, she picks a fight
with VJ for no reason and then accuses her of being jealous. CT
leaves in a huff and then has Maya drive her to her mother's house.
There she ends up comforting her mom over the job loss. It wasn't
what she wanted. She wanted all the focus to be on her and her
problems, not her mom's. She tells Maya afterwards that she wants to
turn back into CT and go to the mall to talk to Ted. Maya does (or
undoes I guess) her make-up magic and CT gets her wish.
CT talks to Ted and some of her
ex-coworkers at the burger place before she and Maya meet for lunch.
They talk about what LA is like for awhile and then CT spots the man
she saw talking to Bo in the hotel. Because she's turned into a
massive idiot, she takes off in pursuit of him, leaving her bodyguard
behind. CT catches up to him and discovers that he is, indeed, the
man Bo was talking to but he isn't actually the fake security guard.
He tells her that he's an agent that Bo's been considering switching
to and he makes a pitch for "India" to switch as well.
Well, that was incredibly well thought
out, CT. Now you're unprotected in a crowded mall. Good going.
We head hop and land in Maya's head.
She's searching for CT with no luck. Suddenly Devoted is right in
front of her. He stabs her in the throat and she dies. Right there
in a crowded mall.
We hop back into CT's head. She hears
the screams from other mall people and goes to investigate. She sees
Maya's dead body and faints.
The next chapter opens with CT at the
police station. She identifies herself as India and answers their
questions about Maya. When they ask if Maya was seeing anyone, CT
tells them that she never saw a boyfriend but Maya was constantly
getting calls from several different men. The police think that's
the angle to go with – jealous lover. CT prefers that theory to
the one she had – Devoted. She feels like she's losing her mind
and she knows she has to decide right then and there if she's going
to assume India's life.
She decides that's exactly what she's
going to do and no one is going to stop her. Not her mother. Not
Devoted. Not even India if she ever turns up.
CT knows that the police will be by the
next day to search the motel room she shared with Maya. She gathers
up anything that can identify her as CT and shoves it in a gym bag.
She decides the safest place to hide it will be her trailer on the
set. She writes some kind of note for Bo and slips it under the door
of his room and then she takes a taxi to the set.
It's dark and empty except for the
night security people. She notices one of them has left a door ajar
but she doesn't take any action to correct it. Dumb. So dumb. She
goes to her trailer and hides the CT stuff in the mini fridge
thinking that no one would ever look in there. She's waiting for Bo,
hoping that the note she left will lure him to the set. She wanders
around a bit and comes to a garden area. On one of the pillars
someone has scrawled: “Here lies India Isaacson. Dead dead
dead. But where's her head?”
Oh, Baron. Seriously? Was that the
best you could do? That's pretty embarrassing. I get the feeling
that you gave up on this book 30 pages ago.
CT finally realizes she's being super
stupid and she decides to get the fuck out.
It's too late.
She turns around and her doppelganger
is standing right in front of her.
It's India, of course. She says her
friend Lucy was in the car that went over the ravine. She was hiding
out until she realized what Reggie was up to with CT and now she
wants to ring his neck. She tells CT she's been worn out for awhile
and tired of working so she wants CT to finish the film and then go
back to being CT and India will go back to being India. CT realizes
that it was India being rude to people on set the other day. She's
practically a genius, this one.
They talk about Devoted. India is
convinced that he's completely harmless. She says she can tell the
freaks from the nutcases and this one is just a freak. She quickly
realizes she's wrong, though, when they realize the paint on the
message is fresh and they hear footsteps coming toward them.
It's Bo and at first they're relieved.
They both come out of the shadows and he's stunned to see two of
them. Before anyone can say anything, a figure comes up behind Bo and
tases him. The girls run as Bo falls to the ground. The figure hits
him a couple of times with a bat before taking off after the girls.
They run to the front gates to find
them locked and the guard dead. India leads CT back to the set.
They go into one of the “buildings” and then out the back into a
corridor. India's plan is to hide, let CT draw out the bad guy and then
jump him from behind. They are banking on the fact that he doesn't know there's two of them.
THINK PEOPLE!
Okay, let me review for CT and India
who are just the stupidest stupids who ever stupided.
Bo comes on set. India and CT reveal
themselves to Bo. Bad Guy is standing right behind Bo. Bad Guy tases Bo. Bo falls. Girls run away. Bad Guy HAS FUCKING SEEN YOU
BOTH.
But, no. Baron, who has completely
given the fuck up by this point, tells us that SOMEHOW BAD GUY DIDN'T
SEE WHAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS EYES JUST A MINUTE AGO. Yeah,
right. Sure. Oooooookkkkkkkkaaaaaayyyyyyyyy. For fuck's sake,
Baron.
I have so much blog rage right now,
y'all. I was loving this book up until page 161 when the whole CT
will take over India's life happened. This book started a
downhill slide at that point and has gone so far underground that I'm
expecting it to hit the mantle at any minute.
I no longer care but I only have 10
pages left.
Sigh.
I can do this.
Bad Guy notices there's two sets of
footprints in the dust. He also notices that there's a spot cleared
off under one of the heavy lights. He figures that one person is
going to lure him to that spot and the other person is going to drop
the light on him. At least someone in this book is smart. Bad Guy decides the best thing to do is to go after the person manning the
light, not the obvious bait person.
CT is trying like mad to lure Bad Guy to the hot spot but she's getting no results. Suddenly a light
almost comes down on her, and she thinks India is trying to kill her.
She comes out of her hiding spot and heads for the place she knows
India is hiding. Like an idiot. She discovers India in a heap on
the ground. She's been tased I think. Bad Guy steps out of the
shadows and is stunned to see CT at first.
Then she laughs.
Yep, I said she.
She laughs and says that she knew
India couldn't be turning out a performance like that.
It's Mary.
Apparently it was pieces of Devoted
that Reggie found in Mary's apartment and not pieces of Mary.
Wow.
I totally did not see that coming at
all and I'm not even being sarcastic here. Wow.
So Mary does the bad-guy monologue at
this point. She laughs at herself for doing it which almost makes me
like her and that's disturbing. She tells CT that Devoted was
actually a man called Bob Becker. He had killed a bunch of
celebrities and had his sights set on killing India. Mary figured
out who he was. He was going to kill her but Mary convinced him that
she'd help him instead. She said he became her boyfriend. I think
that's YA code for sleeping together. Mary helped him mess with CT's
head thinking that CT was India. The only reason she really gives is
that she doesn't like India and she's jealous of India
professionally.
Mary's plan was to kill Bob, put parts
of him in her apartment so the police would think she was dead, then
kill India. Then, when all the papers are talking about the murder
and the movie, she'll come out of hiding and say that Devoted had kept
her prisoner but she'd managed to get away. She figures that the press
would be all over her then and she can use that to get better
roles. Only the police haven't discovered “her” body yet and it is messing everything up.
During this, CT glances over and
realizes India is gone. She thinks India took off to save herself.
She makes a rush at Mary but Mary tases her. Some time passes. CT
becomes aware that Mary is dragging her to the edge of one of the
“roofs” on set. She knows she's about to be pushed over and she
won't survive the fall. Suddenly India appears and attacks Mary. CT
gets up to help. Here is what we're told:
“Suddenly all three of them were
wrestling for balance, teetering on the edge of disaster. One broke
free as Mary fell from the rooftop. The other went with her.”
Sigh.
The
epilogue tells us that Mary is dead. India is dead. CT and Bo are
okay. Every agent in the country wants to represent CT. Money is
being thrown at her. Offers are pouring in. A lawyer takes up her
mother's case and gets a huge cash settlement for her. CT decides to
get her GED and skip the rest of high school so she can become a
star. Bo begs for forgiveness. She finally gets a contract worth 7
million dollars.
She and Susan go
out to dinner. At one point, Susan looks at her icily and the book
ends like this:
“I know which one you are. A
mother knows her own child.”
In response her dinner partner said,
“It's all going to work out. You'll see.”
The End.
Final Thoughts:
I loved this book up until page 160. I hated this book from page 161
to page 215. I loved this book from page 216 to the end. I have no
idea what happened to Baron for that 50 pages but I'm inclined to
forgive him. This book was a wild, wild ride.
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