Sati Marie Frost's Reviews > Rock Star

I read this entire book in one afternoon. 450-some pages of glorious tackiness. It was a good way to spend a day off. :)

Rock Star chronicles the rise to fame of three singers: Bobby Mondella, a smooth soul singer who's trying to make a comeback after being blinded in an accident; Rafealla, an overnight sensation with a sultry lounge-singer's voice; and Kris Phoenix, rock idol second only to Springsteen.

The book is set in the afternoon and evening of a big party where the three protagonists are performing, but told mostly in flashbacks arranged chronologically that detail the last twenty years of each character's life. I found this structure very effective - the flashback chapters really give you a feel for the characters and their struggles, while the current-day chapters provide a framework for the flashbacks. The reader knows where everyone is going to end up, but not how they get there or why they feel the way they do about each other - allusions to past events are made during the current-day chapters, and then explored further in flashbacks later in the book - so there's quite a few mysteries that kept me intrigued.

A lot of people slate Jackie Collins, and call her untalented and her books trashy. Well, they are trashy, but untalented is an unfair accusation, IMO. Her books are easy to read, pleasant junk food for the brain, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. And she certainly has a talent for drawing the reader in, making you root for the heroes and hiss at the villains, making you care about these people - even though you'll probably forget all about them the next day. I don't find her books memorable, but I certainly find them entertaining at the time, and this one more than most. 3.5 - 4 stars.