Star Island

Twenty-two-year-old pop star Cherry Pye is attempting a comeback from her latest drug and alcohol disaster. Ann DeLusia is Cherry’s “undercover stunt double,” portraying Cherry whenever the singer is too wasted to go out in public. But, one night, Ann-as-Cherry is mistakenly kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by an obsessed paparazzo named Bang Abbott. Now the challenge for Cherry’s handlers (ber–stage mother; horndog record producer; nipped-and-tucked twin publicists; weed-whacker-wielding bodyguard) is to rescue Ann while keeping her existence secret from the public—and from Cherry herself. A further complication: Ann has had a bewitching encounter with Skink, the unhinged former governor of Florida, and now he’s heading for Miami to find her. Will Bang achieve his fantasy of a private photo session with Cherry? Will Cherry sober up in time to lip-synch her concert tour? Will Skink track down Ann before Cherry’s posse does? All will be revealed in Carl Hiaasen’s hilarious spin on life in the celebrity fast lane.