| Title: | Bias Cut | |
|---|---|---|
| Author: | Morgan Richter | |
| Publisher | Luft Books | |
| Publication Date: | September 2012 | |
| Publisher's Description | Burned out and bitter after a string of disappointments, Nicola Strozyk takes a short-term gig assisting Laurie Sparks, the design world’s reigning enfant terrible. Barely in his twenties, Laurie has built himself an empire that encompasses a chic Manhattan boutique and a role on an obnoxious reality series. Part worldly sophisticate and part cheerful scatterbrain, Laurie is beautiful and extravagant; at nearly twice his age, Nicola is jaded and resolutely unglamorous. As Laurie’s burgeoning fame threatens to overwhelm him, Nicola finds herself struggling to keep him on solid ground. When Laurie becomes obsessed with tracking down the designer of a mysterious coat, he drags Nicola along on a champagne-fueled quest that takes them from the New York catwalks to glittery Hollywood parties and swanky suites in Paris hotels. What begins as a lark takes an ominous turn when they uncover a decades-old mystery involving the murders of two young models. Along the way, the odd-couple camaraderie between Nicola and Laurie evolves into a fierce bond, which is put to the test when she must protect him from a pair of deadly threats: a mercurial fellow designer hell-bent on burying a dark secret, and an obsessive killer who has fixed his sights on Laurie. |
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| My rating: | **** | |
I got this book when it was free on Amazon, but after the first twenty pages, I knew that I would have enjoyed it even if I’d purchased it (this is my highest praise). I really liked the relationship between Laurie and Nicola, and rooted for both of them. They each gave the other something that he or she was lacking, but not in an overly sappy way. Laurie helped Nicola feel present in her life and vital in his, while she provided him with the sort of non-maternal grounding that he desperately needed. I was drawn into the mystery in much the same way as Nicola; it wasn’t initially clear to me why Laurie cared so much about who’d designed the clothes, but seeing how things escalated upped my interest, quickly. The characters, more than the mystery, were what drew me to this story. If you’re looking for a hard hitting, multi-faceted mystery, this probably isn’t it. This book is more character-driven, and all the better for it. I would definitely read another book set in this world featuring Nicola and Laurie, and hope that we haven’t seen the last of this duo.
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