FREE -- Dead Space (Charlie Willis) by Lee Goldberg [Kindle Edition]

When a Hollywood studio, as part of its ambition to launch a new TV network, decides to remake a science-fiction series that became a cult hit after cancellation 25 years ago, all hell breaks loose. This time out, ex-cop Charlie Willis (My Gun Has Bullets, 1995, TV writer-producer Goldberg's debut audit of filmdom's ranking grotesques) has what could prove a mission impossible. As security head at Pinnacle Pictures, he's responsible for protecting a considerable corporate investment in the revival of Beyond the Beyond. But, unfortunately, the actors and production talent associated with the futuristic fantasy's renaissance soon find themselves under intense, often deadly, pressures. Initially, Charlie suspects Clive Odett, head of a rapacious agency known only as The Company, which will stop at nothing to control hit programs. While Odett and his murderous minions are indeed making key players offers they can't refuse, the down-and-dirty work is being done by a band of maniacally devoted fans who view any changes in the cast or format of Beyond the Beyond as sacrilege. Abetting their homicidal efforts to maintain the status quo ante is Guy Goddard (a deranged has-been who starred as Captain Pierce, heroic helmsman of the starship Endeavor on its abortive treks through the dark side of a vividly imagined cosmos). As the death toll mounts, an increasingly desperate Charlie makes himself a target by purporting to replace a slain teen idol in the role of Captain Pierce. In costume (if not character), the down-to-earth house dick, in a fashion befitting the La La Land setting, tempts a host of hostile fates to save the studio's prize property. Black comedy from the Left Coast--and an outrageously entertaining take on the loathsome folkways of contemporary showbiz. --

Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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