Damage Control: A Novel - Softcover

"A tale about unbridled ambitioin, friendship, and betrayal....Realistic characters live in Hamilton's L.A., where the division between the haves and the have-nots can be immense. . . . A welcome return."--"Sun-Sentinel"

"The mystery Hamilton conjures is convincing, and she has a fine and accurate eye for how privileged Anglenos live. But it's her ability to pull the curtain back on the often-opaque world of crisis management that will stay with you long after the novel is finished." -NPR.org

"You can't beat LA-based noir for moodiness, and no one writes it better than Denise Hamilton."--"USA Today"

"You can't beat L.A.-based noir for moodiness, and no one writes it better than Denise Hamilton."--"USA Today"

"A tale about unbridled ambition, friendship and betrayal... A welcome return."--Oline Cogdill, "Associated Press"

"Hamilton has constructed an intricate and finely-balanced thriller that joins all the flavors and worlds of southern California into a heady cocktail of sex, celebrity, and consequence."--BN.com

"A riveting stand-alone thriller. . . . In a novel that marries celebrity culture, surf noir and the bonds of friendship, Hamilton is at the top of her game."--"Kirkus"

"Denise Hamilton scores her largest and greatest triumph: "Damage Control" is a great mystery, and, much more rarely, a superb psychological thriller. Kudos to this brilliant talent."--James Ellroy

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR DENISE HAMILTON WEAVES AN ENGROSSING STORY OF TEENAGE FRIENDSHIP AND ADULT BETRAYAL, FEATURING A HIGH-POWERED CRISIS CONSULTANT WHO GETS SWEPT UP IN MURDER AND SCANDAL INVOLVING A WEALTHY POLITICAL FAMILY.

Maggie Silver is solidly middle class, with a mortgage to pay and an ill mother to support. She is doing her best to scramble up the ladder at an elite PR firm in Southern California whose clients are movie stars and famous athletes. Now, Maggie tackles her toughest client yet: Senator Henry Paxton, a distinguished statesman who also happens to be the father of Anabelle, Maggie’s estranged best friend from high school.

Senator Paxton’s young female aide has been found murdered, and Maggie must run damage control to prevent the scandal from growing. Thrown back into the Paxtons’ glamorous world, Maggie is unexpectedly flooded with memories from the stormy years in high school when her friendship with Anabelle was dramatically severed after a tragedy that neither of them has been able to forget. As Maggie gets further embroiled in the lives of the Paxtons, she realizes that the ties of her old friendship are stronger than she thinks.

Riveting and suspense-filled, Damage Control examines our craving for celebrity and spectacle, and how far the bonds of friendship can stretch before they break forever.