Literary agent Valerie Morrell receives an email from prospective author William Mendez, containing the first chapters of a promising new novel. Mendez's book tells the story of an April night, when a nervous, nerdy journalist takes his boss's invitation to an A-list party and meets a reclusive film star, his junkie supermodel wife and a wide-eyed pop singer.Valerie is hooked by the scandalous tale of decadence, drugs and disasters, but as the book unfolds, chapter by chapter, email by email, building to a terrible climax, a parallel story emerges - of an author with an unusual, almost unreal, desire for anonymity. Who is William Mendez? And whose tale is he really telling...WITH PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN MATERIAL FOR THE PAPERBACKLONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE

This book is an experiment.We're experimenting together.You are part of the experiment, if you'll agree to it.Normally I don't let my subjects choose to be subjects. If you know you're being watched, you cease to be you.But I want you to read this. I wrote it for you.This magnetic book pulls you in its wake even as you resist its force. Sometimes you don't want to know what's next...