Hollywood is about to get

its wake-up call.

Everyone goes a little crazy during Oscar Season -- the campaigns, the parties, the seductions, the paybacks. Hollywood is never so cutthroat as it is at the turn of each year, when celebrities and their millions of fans across the globe begin their weeks-long, exclusive obsession with the Academy Awards. With so much money, so much power, so many egos, and so much to hide, how surprising is it when Industry players begin turning up dead?

At the heart of Los Angeles Times reporter Mary McNamara's novel, Oscar Season, is the Pinnacle Hotel, the hub of the Oscar maelstrom. Everyone who's anyone winds up under its luxe care and the watchful eye of its PR director, Juliette Greyson. When Juliette begins to suspect that conspiracy,nrather than coincidence, links what some are calling an Oscar Curse, more than just her job is threatened.

But this is Hollywood after all -- and during Oscar season it's almost impossible to know what is real and what is staged. Even when it comes to murder. Who is lying and who is merely acting? When does murder stop being murder and start becoming really good publicity?

Erudite and whip smart, suspenseful and sexy, Oscar Season is the perfect read to sneak in between red carpet interviews.