Getting trashed can make or break you.

Scandal-sheet cub reporter Simone Glass has posed as a cater-waiter at a gala benefit, eavesdropped from a Dumpster, and sneaked onto the set of the hottest new TV series. But how many lies and betrayals can Simone live with—especially if they lead to murder?

When a soap opera star commits suicide and a stripper with sordid celebrity connections is found dead, Simone’s most reliable sources begin acting paranoid. There’s a remorseless killer ripping Tinseltown apart. Can Simone expose the murderer or will she become just the latest casualty of Hollywood’s brutal deceptions?...

Investigative journalist Zoe Greene, traumatized by a serial killer, has switched to writing for a soap-opera digest. Obsessed with soap star Warren Clark, she delights in joining him at his home in Mexico. But nearby, the mutilated body of a teenager was found recently, his heart torn from his body.

From the moment Zoe arrives, things go wrong. Warren disappears for long stretches of time. Other Americans she meets hide strange black crosses and blood-tipped cacti in their homes. When more people end up dead, their hearts torn out, Zoe's investigative instincts kick in. But even as she follows ominous clues, she may well be next on the killer's list...

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Samantha Leiffer is trying to get a grip on reality. Her live-in boyfriend, detective John Krull, isn't deeply troubled, he's just quiet. Her ex isn't a stalker, he's just trying to be friendly. And the nerdy stranger who gives Sam a note warning her of danger unless she calls him, is just hitting on her-until one by one, people vaguely connected to her start getting killed. Now Sam knows she's not imagining the murderer-and that he's closer than she thinks....