A wonderfully sardonic and nightmarish tale of a Hollywood success story gone wrong, from the bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happiness , A Special Relationship and State of the Union .

Like all would-be Hollywood screenwriters, David Armitage wants to be rich and famous. But for the past eleven years, he’s tasted nothing but failure. Then, out of nowhere, luck comes his way when one of his scripts is bought for television. Suddenly, he’s the new toast of Hollywood as the creator of a hit series.

A new player in Tinsel Town, David reinvents himself at great speed — notably and especially by walking out on his wife and daughter for a young producer who worships only at the altar of ambition. But David’s upward mobility takes a decidedly strange turn when a billionaire film buff named Philip Fleck barges into his life, proposing a very curious collaboration. David takes the bait, and finds he has inadvertently entered a Faustian Pact, one that results in an express ride to the lower depths of the Hollywood jungle.

Douglas Kennedy's novels - The Big Picture, The Job and The Pursuit of Happiness - have all been critically praised bestsellers. His first novel, The Dead Heart, has been filmed as Welcome to Woop-Woop. He is also the author of three acclaimed travel books: Beyond the Pyramids, In God's Country and Chasing Mammon. His work has been translated into sixteen languages. Born in Manhattan in 1955, he lives in London with his wife and two children.