Smash Cut

Smash Cut

Sandra Brown’s Smash Cut opens with a bang in Atlanta’s swank Hotel Moultrie, where one of five passengers in an elevator has been shot dead by a man wearing a grotesque mask. Was it a robbery gone wrong? Or was businessman Paul Wheeler targeted for execution?

The press is all over the story, honing in on Julie Rutledge, who was at the scene of the shooting. Their claim that she was Wheeler’s young lover doesn’t bother Julie. Her only concern is that the killer be found, which is why she’s focused on Paul’s profligate nephew, Creighton Wheeler, who stands to inherit his fortune—and soon, the police are too.

When attorney Derek Mitchell is hired to defend Creighton, Julie tries to tell him that his client is a dangerous sociopath with an unsettling passion for movie thrillers, a warning that goes unheeded. But it isn’t Derek’s attraction to Julie that changes the renowned lawyer’s mind. Troubling incidents with his client followed by others of a more chilling nature lead him to suspect that Creighton doesn’t just enjoy watching murder films…he likes to reenact them. And if that’s the case, Derek and Julie may soon be unwilling costars in a reality film that could spell the end for them.

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster ( August 11, 2009 )

Item #: 12-8785

ISBN: 9781416563082

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.91 inches

Product Weight: 15.0 ounces