BELINDA

Obsessed with the mystery surrounding Belinda, his precocious sixteen-year-old lover, Jeremy Walker, a middle-aged illustrator of children's books, is swept into Belinda's world of Hollywood money, lust, and dark family secrets

Under the pseudonym of Rampling, Anne Rice (The Vampire Lestat wrote the erotic confection Exit to Eden ; this novel, too, has a highly sensual aura. Jeremy Walker, a middle-aged children's book author renowned for his beautiful, old-fashioned illustrations, is captivated by a 16-year-old woman-child who tells him nothing of her past when she moves into his San Francisco home. Obsessed by Belinda's smoky sexuality, the paintings in which he celebrates her beauty are an erotic and sometimes violent extension of Jeremy's books. When the artist discovers that his mysterious lover is the missing daughter of a famed film star, a scandalous story of anger and betrayal uncoils, and Belinda abruptly disappears. To bring her back, Jeremy makes his portraits public, unleashing a media circus and police investigation that conspire to separate them forever. The concluding chapters are badly marred by a heavy dose of saccharine, but its rivetingly seductive, gothic overtones lend a fine, eerie flavor to scenes stretching from brash Hollywood deals to the darkness of an enshrined house in New Orleans. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When 44-year-old Jeremy Walker beds luscious 16-year-old runaway Belinda, he risks more than legal charges. For Walker is a children's author of such repute that his booksall about little girlsmake adult bestseller lists and spawn TV series and movies. Belinda, experienced beyond her years, satisfies his occasional yen for young girls and more, as his lover, model, and muse; his paintings of her are the best he's done. But keeping this work, and their relationship, hidden is complicated by Belinda's intimate ties (obvious early on) to top show biz figures. In this novel written under a pseudonym by Anne Rice ( The Vampire Lestat ), Walker's first-person narrative is erotic and strong with bursts of artistic passion, but it's bogged down with detailed background exposition and resolution. And art and truth, as moral issues, take a back seat to eroticism. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.