Friday, May 23, 2014

Review: Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel

As usual I must first thank Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen books for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title. This was a quick read, a good little mystery.

The main character is of course Vivian Divine. She is a teen movie star.  Not too long ago her mother was killed after being threatened.  After that, her father tried to commit suicide.  And she was just embarrassed by her boyfriend kissing her best friend being caught by the reporters.  Now, Vivian has received the same type of note as her mother, her death has been predicted, and there is even a photo shot of her as if it has already taken place.  Her personal assistant suggests that she go incognito down to Mexico where she has relatives who can help keep Vivian safe until they can figure out what to do to save her.  Of course they have to change her appearance, and then she is on a bus to Mexico.  Partway through the bus ride, Vivian notices her bag is missing.  A boy named Nick is who she first accuses, but he promises her it wasn't him, and even tries to help her.  Well sort of, he thinks she is pretty snotty, and so does it in a backhanded way.  But when the bus gets broken down before they reach Vivian's destination, she now must rely on Nick to take her to the town where she is supposed to meet the guy who is supposed to help her out.  Soon, she and Nick become pretty good friends.  But partly because the next ride they get only lasts for so long.  When they stop at a church to sleep for the night, a man with a gun comes in, and it is obvious he is looking for Vivian.  Now, Vivian hasn't told Nick her name, wanting to stay anonymous.  She is able to hide, but in the morning, the priest and the others staying in the church chase her out.  Nick goes with her. But soon the man catches up again.  And they are separated.  Now Vivian is on her own.  She even sees on the news that supposedly she has been found dead.

The story has all kinds of twists and turns.  The guy at the church isn't the only guy trying to get her, and she does catch back up to Nick when she finally gets to the town.  She comes across a woman who helps her, and this woman even has some connections that Vivian thinks may help her to actually find out why her mother was murdered.  But finding this out may put Vivian in even more danger. How much can she trust any of her new friends?  Including the cute boy Nick?

Really a pretty good story.  A fun read, I kind of had an inkling about a certain person who ended up involved in the whole plot to kill Vivian, although it may not be a first guess.  All the characters end up tied together in a pretty unique way I'd say.  But probably really believable for a small town in Mexico run by a drug lord.