Celebrities. The very word sparks complex feelings and questions: do these people deserve to be where they are? Why can’t I be them? How did they get to be so PERFECT?
As someone who once was a local celeb, working as a television sportscaster, I can guarantee that those who are ‘famous’ would say they are regular humans with a myriad of emotions and problems, just like anyone else. During my decades as a sportscaster, people constantly said to me, “Oh, you have the perfect job and the most amazing life,” when neither of those things were actually true, so it was really fun to dive into that disconnect for my thriller, The Fair Weather Friend.
The book is about Faith Richards, a wildly popular local television meteorologist in Detroit, beloved by her fans, but those close to her know she is a complicated person with many faults. When Faith is found murdered after disappearing on a dinner break, an eclectic group of suspects bubbles forth as the reader peels back the layers of the famous and beautiful weathercaster.
Here are six other books I recommend that explore the darker side of fame.
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Hank Phillipi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
Tessa is a bestselling author on a whirlwind book tour. Fans come out in droves. But Tessa soon realizes she’s being stalked by someone hellbent on sabotaging her career and ruining her family life back home. The book tour becomes a terrifying experience as each new hotel and city bring fresh and unwanted surprises.
I listened to this on audio and it was one of those where I wished my commute were longer! I really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes aspects of the book tour, as well as the balancing of fame and real life, and the unnerving details of what was happening to her.
Ruth Ware, One Perfect Couple
This was an interesting take on fame because it’s about a group of people on a reality show trying desperately to achieve notoriety. They are all sequestered on a remote island for the show, with their phones taken from them. But when a horrific storm hits, killing some and leaving the survivors without any way to depart or communicate to the world, they must rely on each other and forget about fame and fortune to survive.
This was a real heart-pounder with some great characters.
Anna Quindlen, Rise and Shine
A national morning show host loses her job when she is overheard on a hot mic. Gone is the public adoration, and she needs to find herself all over again with the help of her sister, a social worker in the Bronx. But it’s a tragedy involving the host’s son that really shapes her life.
I read this many years ago but it has stuck with me because so many of the details of fame rang true. I still replay some of the lines from this one in my head.
Stephen King, Misery
If you haven’t read this Stephen King classic (or seen the movie), it’s worth every second. A famous writer gets into a car accident in the middle of the wilderness. The woman who saves him turns out to be his self-proclaimed “number one fan.” However, she is angry that he killed off a main character in his series so she decides to hold him hostage and make him write the book she wants.
This was one of the original “fame can be scary” books of our time.
Catherine Steadman, The Disappearing Act
A British actress named Mia comes to Hollywood to try out for a variety of screen roles. She meets a fellow actress at an audition and agrees to plug the parking meter for her, but when that actress vanishes without a trace, Mia decides to investigate on her own. Little does she know how this will take her deep into a world of tinsel town secrets.
This was another audiobook I happily hopped into at every available chance. The premise was spooky and the twists unforeseen.
Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot
Jake, a struggling writer-turned-professor, decides to steal an idea for a can’t-miss bestseller from his deceased student, but as fame and fortune come Jake’s way, so does someone claiming to know the truth. Jake can’t figure out who would have the knowledge of what he actually did and now must fess up or run from the consequences.
A thriller with literary prose, gorgeously crafted and thoroughly enjoyable, I found myself rereading sentences because they were so beautiful, yet it was every bit a nail-biting thriller too.
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