B&N Reads
4/13/2016
L.S. Hilton’s pitch-black trilogy starter Maestra gives us a new amoral heroine to love: Judith Rashleigh, art house assistant by day and hostess by night, who finds herself—by way of snagging a rich man’s attention—navigating the glittering world of the Riviera. After inadvertently ending up on her dangerous boss’s bad side, and following the accidental death of her mark, Judith relies on a flair for reinvention and sociopathic resistance to looking back to propel her on a twisting, decadent spree across Europe. Read More
Publishers Weekly - Audio
05/30/2016
Hilton’s debut novel introduces femme fatale Judith Rasleigh, who seduces and slays her way up from a petty existence—as gofer at a respected London art auction house by day, while serving as a hostess in a seedy club by night—to a life of hedonist excess among billionaire yacht owners lolling on the Riviera. As written, Judith narrates her own sociopathic, narcissistic rise, complete with a few murders and sexual encounters as lavishly detailed as the book’s fashion notes, with a relentlessly sardonic tone. Reader Fox adds a snarky, ruthlessly dismissive edge, using a razor-sharp British accent. She’s excellent at pinning down Judith’s smarmy auction house boss; her fragile, silly, Cockney girlfriend; a growly nightclub patron who introduces her to Cote d’Azur high life; an affectless American gazillionaire who finances her biggest step up; and an assortment of international high rollers, mistresses, and ne’er-do-wells who keep casino wheels and novels like this (book one of an announced trilogy) rolling. A Putnam hardcover. (Apr.)
Publishers Weekly
★ 02/01/2016
The talents of Judith Rashleigh, the sardonic narrator of Hilton’s deliciously Highsmithian thriller, the first of a trilogy, are clearly underutilized as an assistant at a top London art auction house and as a hostess at a seedy nightclub where she moonlights. But a mark she hooks at the club—middle-aged, married, and morbidly obese James—proves to be her ticket to the Riviera. With the aid of a femme fatale facility that surprises even herself, she enters a dangerous beau monde of possibility seemingly as limitless as the view of the Mediterranean from the billionaire’s yacht onto which she wangles her way. That is, if she can stay one step ahead of the law. As Judith assumes and sheds identities as effortlessly as her Louboutins during a twisty series of increasingly treacherous escapades (several X-rated), Hilton (Elizabeth: Renaissance Prince as Lisa Hilton) artfully conjures a glossy world where just about everything—and everyone—has its price. Optioned by Sony Pictures, this hot title has already sold rights in more than 25 countries. Agent: Toby Mundy, TMA Creative Management (U.K.). (Apr.)
From the Publisher
A radical heroine. She deploys a uniquely female arsenal...weaponizing femininity...It’s hard not to feel vicariously empowered by a woman unapologetically in pursuit. Let’s call her the Sheryl Sandberg of sociopaths, leaning in to the hilt.”—O, The Oprah Magazine
“One of this year’s most talked-about novels. . . . More mayhem, more art—and certainly more sex—lie ahead for insatiable Judith.”—The Washington Post
“This year's most erotic novel. . . . Unapologetic, confident and quite the sociopath, protagonist Judith Rashleigh is no Anastasia Steele.”—New York Post
“[A] shopathon travelogue thriller that has billionaires, art world scheming, and a sociopathic heroine who can unfasten belt buckles with her teeth.”—The New York Times
“An unpredictable London auction-house assistant turned high-class escort slips effortlessly into the world of the glamorous and wealthy, crossing international borders and leaving destruction in her wake.”—The Wall Street Journal
“The European art world mixes with an underground world (hint: sex parties). This thriller is like The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Warning: it’s VNSFW. That V is for very.” —The Skimm
“[J]ubilantly mordant...A twenty-first-century femme fatale as lethal as Tom Ripley and as seductive as Bacall.” -Vogue
“Ever since Gillian Flynn dominated the book club circuit (and the big screen) with her psychological thriller Gone Girl, everyone's been waiting for the next mystery to sink their teeth into. [Maestra] is it..”—InStyle
“A taut, meaty thriller . . . Judith Rashleigh’s single-minded and self-centered quest for wealth and acceptance could well be the most compelling since Patrick Bateman’s.”—Chicago Review of Books
“As readable as any crime thriller, but also clearly belongs in the literary tradition of Moll Flanders and Vanity Fair.”—Sunday Times (UK)
“Meet Judith, an art-house assistant who’ll make you root for the bad girl once you really get to know her.”—Marie Claire
“Thank the book gods that L. S. Hilton’s Maestra is only the first installment in a series.”—Redbook
“Hurry up and read this R-rated psychological thriller before it hits the big screen—it’s already been optioned by Columbia Pictures. Think 50 Shades of Grey meets The Talented Mr. Ripley.”—Allure.com
“Delicious escapism—I loved it!”—Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go
“[A] deliciously Highsmithian thriller...As Judith assumes and sheds identities as effortlessly as her Louboutins during a twisty series of increasingly treachero's escapades, Hilton artfully conjures a glossy world where just about everything—and everyone—has its price.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Delicious...at once glamorous, edgy, decadent, erotic, and irresistible. Judith is just full of surprises. She is ruthless and yet vulnerable...[Maestra] is a gift for readers who delight in vengeful female protagonists.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Utterly un-put-down-able, a shocking and sexy psychological thriller.”—Popsugar
Library Journal
03/15/2016
Judith Rashleigh, an assistant in a prestigious London art auction house, is summarily fired when she discovers that her boss is behind a fake painting that was put up for auction. Luckily, Judith also moonlights as a hostess at a champagne bar, where she meets the wealthy and married James. He soon whisks her off to the South of France. James's (mostly) accidental death starts Judith on her path of debauchery. She hooks up with the nouveau riche in Italy and schemes her comeback. Amoral, vicious, and true to her ambitions, Judith is a female Tom Ripley (Patricia Highsmith's con artist protagonist)—doing all she can to survive and further her entreé into the upper echelon of society. VERDICT The first of a planned trilogy, Hilton's debut is not for the faint of heart as Judith's exploits—from sex parties to murders—are described graphically. Still, with the book already optioned for a movie, interest will be high for this scandalous, thrilling tour through Europe and the art world. [See Prepub Alert, 11/15/15.]—Lynnanne Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL
DECEMBER 2016 - AudioFile
This is an erotic story in the style of 50 SHADES OF GREY—for mature ears only. Judith Rashleigh is a contemporary woman stuck in a dead- end job at an art auction house. As she scrambles to make ends meet, she finds a night job at a low-end pub. The contrast between her days and nights leads to her emerging alter ego as a high-priced escort. Emilia Fox narrates the detailed descriptions of the sexual liaisons scattered throughout the book in a deliberate upper-class British persona. Listeners will appreciate Fox's dexterity with British accents that reflect an array of social classes across the characters. Those looking for erotica in audio will enjoy this. M.R. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-02-03
Hilton's novel about a woman with exotic sexual appetites and a penchant for murdering those who cross her mixes blood and sex the way a bartender slaps together martinis. Judith Rashleigh works as an assistant in a large London art house known as British Pictures. While toiling under the repugnant Rupert, she finds occasional employment working in a club where gentlemen of wealth spend the evening in the company of a beautiful woman. No sex is involved, but it wouldn't bother Judith if it was: she has the sexual appetite of a 16-year-old boy and is open to any and all partners. While having detailed coitus with almost everyone she meets, Judith stumbles on a nefarious scheme to defraud a hapless art buyer with Rupert behind the wheel. At first she's not aware that it's Rupert's swindle and tries to expose it, which earns her a pink slip. She and another woman at the club accompany one of her regulars, an enormously fat married man named James, to France, where they slip some drugs into his drink so they can party, and, before they know it, James is dead. For Judith, that's when the fun begins. Hilton's character spends the bulk of the book killing people—sometimes viciously; having minutely described sex, often with total strangers and with an emphasis on overweight men; and dropping the names of rich people's playgrounds, unusual and luxurious foods, and all the designer clothes she buys and wears. Judith, it seems, likes the best of everything. Readers are promised that Judith's depraved tour of Europe will continue. Billed as erotic suspense, this is not a book for suspense fans; it's more a portrait of a sociopathic woman with a voracious appetite for sexual adventure.
