ShaunOK 'Book Addict'

Jackie Collins is my favourite author. I can still remember the first time I read Chances, it then became my favourite book of all time, replacing The Godfather and it hasn't changed since. Every time I read Chances it is like I am reading it for the first time, and unfortunately the book is that good that Jackie has not beat it and probably never will. However The Power Trip was one hell of a read and I loved every minute of it.

I love Lucky Santangelo and every time Jackie announces a new book I hope it will be about her, so I admit to being a bit disappointed when I first read the synopsis for this book. I didn't feel excited at all and to be honest it sounded boring, but how wrong was I? Authors like Jackie, who have been around for years usually end up churning out the same old rubbish, but this book was fantastic and certainly wasn't a rehash of her previous work. Jackie loves to write, she doesn't need the money so she writes for the enjoyment that she knows she gives to her readers old and new.

I was a bit apprehensive at first about the amount of characters introduced all at once. I like things simple but actually it wasn't difficult at all to follow the characters and remember who was who. Jackie has created a fabulous cast of characters here and as with most of her books you can have fun trying to work out which real life people the characters are based on. Near enough every character was likeable despite the fact they were mostly all self centered rich egomaniacs. The story flowed really well and jumped from character to character and the ending could have been plucked from a film. I loved the setting of the luxurious yacht as well, it certainly made a change from the usual boring LA setting.

Overall I would say this is one of the best books I've read in 2012 (and I've read about 120 this year at the time of writing) and unlike other authors that have been around a long time Jackie shows no signs of losing her touch, as I said earlier no book she writes will ever beat Chances but I hope she continues to write books and one day returns to Lucky Santangelo, who remains and will always remain one of my favourite fictional characters. The only negative thing I could say about this is the bits Jackie included about Angelina Jolie, I know Jackie is a fan and has even mentioned her playing Lucky Santangelo (no, no, no, no and again NO) but I can't bear the woman.