Pasha Adam Pasha Adam
Keep Santa Monica Clean by Pasha Adam — cover
Noir · 2016

KEEP
SANTA MONICA CLEAN

A Westside Noir

A screenwriter who gave up, an actress who didn’t, and a city being hacked to pieces.

Post-Entropy 290 pages ISBN 978-1-64606-945-3
A wildly entertaining take on Hollywood and the slime beneath the sparkle.
Kirkus Reviews “Get It” verdict
The book

New to LA and fresh off his first spec sale, a screenwriter sits alone at Cabana, a bar in Santa Monica, California. Through a cloud of cigarette smoke, he spies a girl. Their eyes meet, and they connect instantly. If the screenwriter’s story were to end on this moment, it would have a happy ending.

Alas, shit happens as it is wont to do, and four years later, a storm is brewing over Hollywood. Cyber-attacks are decimating the studio system, exposing the secrets of everyone within it. The screenwriter, now a disaffected entertainment news blogger, unwinds with a whiskey in Cabana after a day spent investigating the hacks.

That is, until Grace Chase — the girl from four years prior, now the star of television’s Vampire Queen — requests his help when she’s blackmailed with incriminating photos. He’s reluctant to oblige. But Grace needs him, and he’s powerless to deny her, embarking on an odyssey across Los Angeles that will have him questioning everything about the girl he once knew and the industry that’s defined his life.

More from the review
“Sharp narration and situation comedy blend with the genuine threat of the hackers and Hollywood itself to keep the pages turning.”

“The reluctant hero is one of many well-worn noir tropes Adam employs, but the author uses them well.”

Read the full Kirkus review ↗

From the novel
The real goal isn’t fame, money, or awards. It’s leaving an attractive corpse.

Chapter Twelve

Los Angeles is powered by fear.

Chapter Twenty

In the photo, I’m smiling. In the reflection of the frame, I’m not.

Chapter Seven

LA may suck, but at least it has stakes.

Chapter One

Maybe you could write a psychological thriller about parking violations.

Chapter Nine

Extract

Read the opening

Read an extended preview of Keep Santa Monica Clean.

The Playlist

Apple Music

Bars, sunsets, and driving on the 10. Listen to the sounds of Dante Lee’s Santa Monica.

Keep Santa Monica Clean

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Where to Buy

Paperback & ebook
Title
Keep Santa Monica Clean — A Westside Noir
Author
Pasha Adam
Genre
Noir
Publisher
Post-Entropy
First published
2016
Pages
290
ISBN-13
978-1-64606-945-3