Synopses & Reviews
Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from wartorn Europe to find that his brother, Daniel, has died in mysterious circumstances. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful career in the movies, and a heroic past choose to kill himself?
Determined to uncover the truth, Ben enters the maze of the studio system and the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business. For this is the moment when politics and the dream factories are beginning to collide as Communist witch hunts render the biggest stars and star makers vulnerable. Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family's past, he is caught in the middle of a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core.
Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark strain of American political life. It brilliantly proves why Joseph Kanon has been hailed as the heir apparent to Graham Greene (Boston Globe).
Review
"Kanon's atmospheric, character-driven latest (Alibi, 2005, etc.) comes within a whisker of being flawless." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"This ambitious novel is for anyone interested in Hollywood in the late 1940s or the film industry's response to the era's congressional witch hunts." Library Journal
Review
"Stardust re-creates a time and a place with pinpoint accuracy and reminds us once again that the wounds of war take time to heal." Booklist
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About the Author
Joseph Kanon is the author of four other novels, Los Alamos, The Good German, The Prodigal Spyand Alibi. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a book publishing executive. He lives in New York City.