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Starstruck
Meeting handsome actor Byron Slater after winning a contest, Miranda Peterson enjoys the attention of the media and the glamour of Byron's world, until she stumbles on the private actor's deadly secrets. Original.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1996
237 people want to read
About the author
Richie Tankersley Cusick
50 books797 followersRichie Tankersley Cusick is the bestselling young adult author of over 25 titles, including two adult horror titles, Scarecrow and Blood Roots. Her popularity grew at the height of the horror/YA boom in the late '80s/early '90s, particularly with books like Lifeguard , Trick or Treat and Teacher's Pet, just to name a few, allowing her to keep company on the bestseller paperback lists with the likes of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Her fan base expanded about the time she changed publishers to Archway/Pocket Books with titles like Vampire and Someone at the Door.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 31, 2023
3.7 stars.
Well that was a fun one. And, bonus points because it’s the first book by this author that didn’t include a near rape or sexual assault!
We had the usual love triangle, of course, and the protagonist going for the least likely man. But I really enjoyed the setting and the characters, and the idea of such a 90s competition to go win a week with a movie star.
Also, car phones!! Don’t you miss those?
Well that was a fun one. And, bonus points because it’s the first book by this author that didn’t include a near rape or sexual assault!
We had the usual love triangle, of course, and the protagonist going for the least likely man. But I really enjoyed the setting and the characters, and the idea of such a 90s competition to go win a week with a movie star.
Also, car phones!! Don’t you miss those?
May 19, 2019
In trying to parse the mystery behind Cusick's thrillers, I noticed two idiosyncrasies.
I've only read six of her books so far, all of them Point Horrors, so my sample size might be inadequate to fully buttress these observations. In any case, this book is enjoyable enough, and none too shabby, really. This time, while the reveal was definitely a shocker, the handling of the mystery is far from being unfair. I'm rating it 6.5/10 or 3 stars out of 5.
I've only read six of her books so far, all of them Point Horrors, so my sample size might be inadequate to fully buttress these observations. In any case, this book is enjoyable enough, and none too shabby, really. This time, while the reveal was definitely a shocker, the handling of the mystery is far from being unfair. I'm rating it 6.5/10 or 3 stars out of 5.
May 24, 2021
Docking a star bc he has a pet tiger yet chooses to name him ‘Simba’
June 24, 2025
Rating based on reread (June 2025).
September 27, 2010
This book is so good, I could read it again and again.
Read
March 9, 2017Sweet Valley meets point Horror! Not scary at all, but an ending I didn't forsee
November 28, 2022
Some parts seemed to drag with all of the descriptive prose RTC is known for but it was a fairly decent thriller.
Miranda Peterson entered the magazine contest to win a week with handsome action movie star Byron Slater. Her younger sister Lynn doesn't think she has a chance to win even though three girls will be chosen as the final hopefuls. Soon however the editor of On Edge Magazine is calling and telling Miranda she's one of the three.
The editor, Lucille, has to convince Miranda's parents to let her go and since she's a little bit older but not that old to be a chaperone they let their daughter go off to California. They are picked up at the airport by a young man who is Byron's personal driver, a replacement for the original driver who has recently died.
He introduces himself as Nick Howard and Lucille remembers him from an interview she did of Byron where he mentioned how the both of them came to Hollywood to be actors from acting school. They head off to a large home that leaves Miranda speechless and we are introduced to Harley, Byron's bodyguard and his publicist, Peg Carter. Peg is a no nonsense person and as icy as her platinum blonde hair.
Byron Slater appears, having just got back from Italy, and Miranda discovers he is more handsome in person. Making an impression upon Byron with her nervousness, he has her stay in the house and not the guest house with the two other girls.
Some impression.
A party is being held for the girls to make impressions on Byron and Miranda meets the two other girls. Kelly McCormick is gorgeous like a model with dark hair and Jo Brown is a short, round girl with glasses. Her friends entered her in the contest and she's only glad to be in California because well...who wouldn't want to?
Kelly's an ice queen but Miranda gets along with Jo real quick.
It seems the lifestyle of the rich and famous actor is not all its cracked up to be. Miranda can tell that Byron is not very happy and soon she can see why. His pet tiger got loose and almost attacked Miranda and Jo on a walk about the grounds and then Miranda got a drink meant for Byron by mistake...drugged with sedative.
Miranda learns from Byron's manager, Robert, that the young actor has been under a lot of stress with his career and is supposed to be taking medication. The medicine was strong to knock her out but it usually just mellows out Byron. Soon Miranda learns from Byron's own lips that he has a stalker, a crazed fan.
She's called him and threatened him...nobody else can love Byron like she can. She's Starstruck.
Now that Miranda has entered the picture, chemistry clear between her and Byron, it's come to the attention of Byron's number one fan. A statue almost falls on Miranda and when Byron takes her out for some privacy, his car stalls out on the way back and the two barely escape before the Porsche crashes over a guardrail.
All of these accidents are not a coincidence...the fan Miranda is calling Starstruck is close by. She's going to make sure that Byron Slater's heart belongs to no one but her. All of his other adoring fans...the people around him and not even Miranda are safe.
The blurb on the back of the book says we get a body in a hot tub and that is true but it's almost near the very end of the book and it's not the only one so slight spoiler but not a big one enough to ruin the climatic reveal.
It was a good one and I really didn't see it coming. The ending was also quite bittersweet.
The whole book does focus on the darker side of celebrity and fame but also on trust and loyalty that most of us know so little of in the movie industry or even in our own plebeian lives.
It's not the best RTC book by any means but it has that thriller/ neo film noir vibe and is a novel I can highly recommend if you enjoy RTC's work.
Starstruck gets a thumbs up from me.
Miranda Peterson entered the magazine contest to win a week with handsome action movie star Byron Slater. Her younger sister Lynn doesn't think she has a chance to win even though three girls will be chosen as the final hopefuls. Soon however the editor of On Edge Magazine is calling and telling Miranda she's one of the three.
The editor, Lucille, has to convince Miranda's parents to let her go and since she's a little bit older but not that old to be a chaperone they let their daughter go off to California. They are picked up at the airport by a young man who is Byron's personal driver, a replacement for the original driver who has recently died.
He introduces himself as Nick Howard and Lucille remembers him from an interview she did of Byron where he mentioned how the both of them came to Hollywood to be actors from acting school. They head off to a large home that leaves Miranda speechless and we are introduced to Harley, Byron's bodyguard and his publicist, Peg Carter. Peg is a no nonsense person and as icy as her platinum blonde hair.
Byron Slater appears, having just got back from Italy, and Miranda discovers he is more handsome in person. Making an impression upon Byron with her nervousness, he has her stay in the house and not the guest house with the two other girls.
Some impression.
A party is being held for the girls to make impressions on Byron and Miranda meets the two other girls. Kelly McCormick is gorgeous like a model with dark hair and Jo Brown is a short, round girl with glasses. Her friends entered her in the contest and she's only glad to be in California because well...who wouldn't want to?
Kelly's an ice queen but Miranda gets along with Jo real quick.
It seems the lifestyle of the rich and famous actor is not all its cracked up to be. Miranda can tell that Byron is not very happy and soon she can see why. His pet tiger got loose and almost attacked Miranda and Jo on a walk about the grounds and then Miranda got a drink meant for Byron by mistake...drugged with sedative.
Miranda learns from Byron's manager, Robert, that the young actor has been under a lot of stress with his career and is supposed to be taking medication. The medicine was strong to knock her out but it usually just mellows out Byron. Soon Miranda learns from Byron's own lips that he has a stalker, a crazed fan.
She's called him and threatened him...nobody else can love Byron like she can. She's Starstruck.
Now that Miranda has entered the picture, chemistry clear between her and Byron, it's come to the attention of Byron's number one fan. A statue almost falls on Miranda and when Byron takes her out for some privacy, his car stalls out on the way back and the two barely escape before the Porsche crashes over a guardrail.
All of these accidents are not a coincidence...the fan Miranda is calling Starstruck is close by. She's going to make sure that Byron Slater's heart belongs to no one but her. All of his other adoring fans...the people around him and not even Miranda are safe.
The blurb on the back of the book says we get a body in a hot tub and that is true but it's almost near the very end of the book and it's not the only one so slight spoiler but not a big one enough to ruin the climatic reveal.
It was a good one and I really didn't see it coming. The ending was also quite bittersweet.
The whole book does focus on the darker side of celebrity and fame but also on trust and loyalty that most of us know so little of in the movie industry or even in our own plebeian lives.
It's not the best RTC book by any means but it has that thriller/ neo film noir vibe and is a novel I can highly recommend if you enjoy RTC's work.
Starstruck gets a thumbs up from me.
November 2, 2024
* Miranda wins a competition and gets to visit a movie star - Byron Slater - for a week.
* Firstly Miranda's suitcase goes missing so she has no clothes to change into, then she comes across a lioness called Simba in the gardens of Byron's house (mid-party), then she's accidentally drugged with the excuse being that they're secretly medicating Byron and she got his dose 🙄
* Byron then tells her that he's got a stalker that he's calling Starstruck.
* Miranda has a statue pushed on top of her in the pool, and then she's out with Byron and his car goes wrong and they nearly go off a cliff.
* Miranda then finds a heart in her corsage box rather than a corsage.
* They then go out to a restaurant, and leave by the back door, Nick the driver is supposed to bring the car around, but they get accosted by some fans. The girls get to the car, then Nick goes back for Byron and his bodyguard Harley.
* Nick comes back to the car and tells them Byron is going to the hospital, and Harley is dead 😲
* Miranda then overhears a conversation between Peg and Nick - saying that Harley was stabbed, and that Peg doesn't want people to know so she's keeping it quiet.
* Miranda goes to meet Peg the next day and finds her dead in her hot tub. She's then hit over the head.
* She awakes in Byron's mountain guest house that he showed her earlier, and has to try to decide who to trust because she has Byron telling her that Nick is the killer, and Nick telling her that Byron is the killer.
* Eventually it turns out that Byron is the killer. Nick throws him off a cliff, and then they tell everyone that he tried to kill them then committed suicide.
* Nick then ends up going home with Miranda! And she decides that she likes him!
* Firstly Miranda's suitcase goes missing so she has no clothes to change into, then she comes across a lioness called Simba in the gardens of Byron's house (mid-party), then she's accidentally drugged with the excuse being that they're secretly medicating Byron and she got his dose 🙄
* Byron then tells her that he's got a stalker that he's calling Starstruck.
* Miranda has a statue pushed on top of her in the pool, and then she's out with Byron and his car goes wrong and they nearly go off a cliff.
* Miranda then finds a heart in her corsage box rather than a corsage.
* They then go out to a restaurant, and leave by the back door, Nick the driver is supposed to bring the car around, but they get accosted by some fans. The girls get to the car, then Nick goes back for Byron and his bodyguard Harley.
* Nick comes back to the car and tells them Byron is going to the hospital, and Harley is dead 😲
* Miranda then overhears a conversation between Peg and Nick - saying that Harley was stabbed, and that Peg doesn't want people to know so she's keeping it quiet.
* Miranda goes to meet Peg the next day and finds her dead in her hot tub. She's then hit over the head.
* She awakes in Byron's mountain guest house that he showed her earlier, and has to try to decide who to trust because she has Byron telling her that Nick is the killer, and Nick telling her that Byron is the killer.
* Eventually it turns out that Byron is the killer. Nick throws him off a cliff, and then they tell everyone that he tried to kill them then committed suicide.
* Nick then ends up going home with Miranda! And she decides that she likes him!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2023
I'm a huge fan of Cusick, but this is not one of my favorite of this author's. There isn't much romance or thrills. The story doesn't stick with you long after like her other novels. But Cusick has a way with world-building where you feel like you are there, like you personally know her characters. She is always an excellent writer, just this book fell a bit flat for me compared to her other hits. I did think the suspect was someone else the entire time, so the ending was a good twist!
April 24, 2018
I really enjoyed this fast paced novel about a girl winning a contest to meet a superstar but find danger instead. The novel kept me guessing on who the stalker and killer was and I had fun.
August 16, 2021
Wanted more summery vibes but this is definitely from “the mistress of gothic horror” as the description says. I don’t know why RTC writes all her protagonists as high strung/hysterical.
November 30, 2014
It's a sad state of affairs when shit like this goes to press. I mean really. REALLY ? R u fucking serious ?
June 24, 2023
Hollywood YA thriller. I knew what I was getting into. Entertaining.
December 7, 2012
It was a nice read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews