Hollywood Shadows by Frank C. Senia

The loyalty of muscle and the strength of family are put to the test in Hollywood Shadows by Frank C. Senia, an emotive first-person drama about the lines we refuse to cross.

Growing up with a brutal father and an overwhelmed mother, Billy and his twin brother Rickey sprang from rough soil, but never lost their sensitive sides. Billy shines as the focal point of this story, narrating his challenging childhood and often intense life as a Hollywood fixer, which means delivering bad news and tough love that can sometimes veer into violence. From cross-country journeys, brotherly reunions, and undercover snooping to nepotism, depression, and the darker sides of entertainment, this gritty and unflinching novel is at times a tough pill to swallow, but always riveting.

One of the most striking lines comes early: “How do we forgive a man who never knew how to love?” and the thematic meat of the story echoes that question, with the prose pressing on nerves of trauma, forgiveness, loyalty, and emotional maturity in all of the key figures. As is often his style, Senia crafts his characters with a jagged and world-weary edge, exposing the struggles of archetypal have-nots who lunge forward with eager ambition, only to stumble back with failure.

Scattered typographical errors and sections of flat prose occasionally undercut the quality, but the writing is generally lyrical and immersive, resulting in a Hollywood novel that is at once a guilty pleasure and a searing emotional drama.