Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson; Reputation by Sarah Vaughan; Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura; Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson; Hot Water by Christopher Fowler
Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson (Century, £20)
After working his way through a small army of co-authors, including Bill Clinton, James Patterson’s latest collaborator is none other than Dolly Parton, who draws on a lifetime’s experience of the country music scene for this distinctive rags-to-riches thriller. When tiny but determined wannabe singer-songwriter AnnieLee Keyes hitchhikes into Nashville (dirt roads, ol’ blue jeans and trucks abound), she’s not only seeking stardom but hoping to outrun her (fairly easily guessable) past. Befriended by Ethan Blake, a handsome army veteran turned musician, and Ruthanna Ryder, retired country legend and, one suspects, Parton’s mouthpiece, AnnieLee learns how to deal with predatory agents and managers and begins to climb the ladder to stardom. Although the mystery runs a distant second to the fascinating details of the country scene, in particular how it treats female artists, the likable trio will have you rooting for them all the way – and Parton has released an album of songs to accompany the book.
Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster, £14.99)
Vaughan’s timely and chilling new novel highlights how female politicians are not only judged more harshly than their male counterparts, but also receive vastly disproportionate amounts of online abuse. High-profile MP Emma Webster, who has launched a campaign to protect women from revenge porn, is the recipient of rage-fuelled messages from anonymous internet trolls as well as threats from an angry constituent who thinks she’s not doing enough to address his – equally legitimate – grievance. It isn’t only her own life that becomes more perilous as her star rises; her 14-year-old daughter, Flora, is being bullied and ostracised by her schoolmates. Flora is driven to retaliate with some cyberbullying of her own, the narrative threatens to get out of hand – and Emma finds herself on trial for murder. Vaughan never shies away from the moral complexities in this unsparing exploration of the pressures women face both in private and public life, while masterfully retaining the suspense right up to the last page.
