Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Dickey (Tempted by Trouble) sets a melodrama of infidelity among Hollywood’s glittering stars. James Thicke is a successful screenwriter with everything going for him when his wife, beautiful actress Regina Baptiste, is caught on video having sex with her leading man, Johnny Bergstein. As the video goes viral, Thicke lurches from feelings of bitter betrayal and yearning for vengeance to lingering love and responsibility for his wife. He makes a hasty incognito retreat to a seedy apartment complex, where he instantly and hilariously attracts the attention of a host of quirky and vivid characters as he tries to elude the paparazzi. Unfortunately, he doesn’t stay there, instead spiraling implausibly out of control. The love–hate relationship is for tabloid fans who are in it for the creative plot and Hollywood glitz and don’t care that the characters are flat and unlikable. Agent: Sara Camilli, Sara Camilli Agency. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Praise for An Accidental Affair
“Once again, Eric Jerome Dickey has written a genre bending…story that is chalk full of danger, intrigue, mysterious characters with shady motives, murder, intrigue…and obsession. Oh, and there's sex. Lots of graphic, erotic, steamy, sweaty, climactic earth-quaking sex…the reader is forewarned: you are in for a hardboiled, fast ride.”—Seattle-Post Intelligencer
“The pace is fast, to be sure…A mix of erotica and noir…an ardent thriller.”—Kirkus Reviews.
“A melodrama of infidelity among Hollywood’s glittering stars…quirky and vivid.”—Publishers Weekly
More Praise for Eric Jerome Dickey
“Dickey taps the intimate emotions of a woman.”—Entertainment Weekly
“No one does it like Eric Jerome Dickey.”—Black Expressions
“[O]ne of the most successful Black authors of the last quarter-century.”—The New York Times
“Eric Jerome Dickey’s work is a master class in Black joy....[his] characters—bold, smart women oozing sexuality and vulnerability—navigate interpersonal conflicts using dialogue that crackles with authenticity.”—The Atlantic
Kirkus Reviews
What's a financially successful screenwriter to do when his movie-star wife stars in an extremely explicit sex video? Can he possible believe her claim that it was all an accident? Dickey's latest novel (Tempted by Trouble, 2010, etc.) drops the reader into a very hip world starring characters ready-made for the screen. Their finances are vast, their bodies perfect, their troubles worthy of coverage on TMZ. Gorgeous Regina Baptiste, James Thicke's wife, has struggled to be taken seriously as an actor. Yet she has surprisingly starred in an explicit video with Johnny Bergs, aka Johnny Handsome, an actor she previously claimed to despise. James first gauges the world's reaction via social-networking sites. He then attacks Bergs and flees to a seedier part of town while his driver, called Driver, packs up and delivers all of his furniture and electronic gadgets. Hiding out amid a curious assortment of characters, James immediately, repeatedly and with carefully described technical prowess, exacts sexual revenge upon his wife with virtual strangers. His new neighbors include Mr. Chetwyn Holder, who jealously loves his young girlfriend. Mrs. Patrice Evans, who uses exercise not only to keep her body in shape but also to fill the emotional void that is her marriage. Sweet Isabel, a lovely, slightly older woman, offers James conversation and more. Yet Regina still loves James, Bergs' family wants revenge and a mysterious number keeps showing up on James' caller ID. And then there's the mysterious and threatening return of Regina's ex-husband. Dickey has set up an ardent thriller in which James must discover why his wife was in the sex video. Did someone coerce or trick her? How? Could the affair actually have been accidental? The pace is fast, to be sure, yet James' own promiscuity makes his jealousy difficult to sympathize with. A mix of erotica and noir, this novel lacks emotional depth.
