Celebrity Skin

Violet Darger FBI Mystery Thriller, Book 12

By: L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

A smoking hole gapes where the sitcom couch had been. A black flutter that fills most of the camera frame. The actor lies in the foreground, sprawling on the scorched carpet. Broken. Blurred. Red. All the viewer can make out is what's left of his legs.

Lights. Camera. Violence.

When a homemade explosive device detonates on the set of a network sitcom, FBI profiler Violet Darger heads to Hollywood to investigate. Her gut tells her this is only the first of what will be multiple attacks.

Her gut is right.

Darger enters the strange world of the studio lot. Elaborate sets surround her. Actors and crew members stream past in all directions. The excitement vibrates in the air—the passion necessary to capture the collective dreams of a culture within the lens of a camera.

But up close the sets look fake, and the cynicism behind those dreams comes clear. The ugly reality doesn't match the way things seem on screen.

Darger works the clues. Digs into the dirt of the victims. Penetrates the psychology of the perpetrator.

The serial bomber might be a name from her past. Might be.

The revolution will be etched into celebrity skin.

But every turn seems to run her up against fresh danger, fresh obstacles. And the pessimism that pervades Los Angeles seems to win out over and over.

And all the while, the clock is ticking. By the time Darger closes in on the bomber, it might be too late.

This pulse-pounding thriller will thrash you right up to the shocking finale. Fans of Michael Connelly, John Sandford, Karin Slaughter, and John Grisham should check out the Violet Darger series. Scroll up and grab Celebrity Skin now.

©2023 L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain (P)2024 L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain

Fast Paced

Thrilling locations, situations, and scenes! This one feels like a well paced Hollywood movie. And Darger and Loshak together again! My fave in this world of thrillers. This one is close to perfection. Loved it!

What gives with long psychotic rants?

Too much time has been spent in the last couple of books delving into long, psychotic rants of the character Husley or even Detrctive VARGUS. They seem to fill time and the length has the reader go cold. I've enjoyed a lot of the earlier books, but last two haven't won me over. I keep listening because I paid for the book, not because I enjoy the read/listen.

Great story, bad pronunciation

The story, as with all the rest of the Darger stories, is great. I find myself very irritated with the narrator's pronunciation of multiple words. Her butchery of the word coiffed (it's kwaffed, NOT coyf'd) let me to write this review.

Solving some cases just takes time.

The best of Violet Darger!

Not quite a year ago I read an advance reader copy of Celebrity Skin and posted the following review “Celebrity Skin, the 12thViolet Darger Thriller lives up to its billing. It starts off with a bang – literally- as the unsub attempts to erase Tinseltown. This case pits Darger and Loshak and all the Los Angeles police/sheriff departments and the local FBI field office against a devious bomber. This installment in the Violet Darger series reminded me of why I enjoy these books so much, it is packed with action and intrigue from start to finish. There are no easy solutions just laying out for the reader to solve the case, and in this case plenty of riddles and clues that require plenty of thought. Another thing about this book was the introduction of some serious cognitive dissonance, to avoid spoiling the story for anyone, I’ll just say it had me questioning the authors in some not so kind words. If you are a fan of Violet Darger you have to read this book it is one that closes a gap that has existed for quite some time. I received an advance reader copy of Celebrity Skin from the authors and chose to provide this review.”

Today I had the pleasure of revisiting this story by listening to Natalie Naudus bring Darger, Loshak and the rest of the cast to life through the voices I’ve become used listening to in the earlier Violet Darger stories that she has narrated. Natalie’s narration is excellent, the way she drives the tension of the story’s action when appropriate and how she brings suspense into the story through adjusting her delivery and pacing is some of the best I’ve heard in audiobooks.

If you need some top-notch entertainment, grab a copy of the book, and if you want to kick it up a notch grab the audiobook.

Love Darger and Loshak series

Love the content. I enjoyed the original narrator (Kate Marcin), her voice cadence was better suited for Darger

Boring, long winded.

Very Boring. Hard to finish. Hard to follow. Long winded with the descriptions. Not my favorite.