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by Winston Groom

Apparently satiated with the gentle, homespun charms of Forrest Gump, Winston Groom enters the decidedly more menacing realm of blackmail, revenge, and torture in Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl. Readers expecting guileless and unequivocal protagonists may find themselves shocked by Groom's purview; readers looking for stylish suspense, enigmatic players, and voice-over commentary like "No trap is as deadly as the one you set for yourself" may find themselves unable to put the book down.

The girl is Los Angeles TV news anchor Delia Jamison, a still ravishing fortysomething who has strenuously and repeatedly exercised her right to leave suitors bitterly heartbroken. Oblique, seductive, and often blunt to a fault, it seems that she has begun receiving lewd and vaguely threatening letters from--she postulates--a jilted ex. Enter another former beau, Oscar-winning screenwriter Johnny Lightfoot, who fortuitously bumps into her and is captivated all over again--not only by her beauty, but also by the mystery of her tormentor. When she presents Johnny with a list of suspects (i.e., past conquests), he resolves to unmask the letter writer.

Audacious almost to the breaking point, Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl is nonetheless good fun--literary candy rife with cat-and-mouse interrogations, neon clues, and campy misdirection. Though the story becomes increasingly implausible, it also starts to mirror its vacuous heroine: as the men who are ineluctably captive to Delia's beauty know, it's nearly impossible to look away. --Ben Guterson

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime

410 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Winston Francis Groom Jr. was an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994. Groom was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). He attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the Army ROTC, and graduated in 1965. He served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour in Vietnam. Groom devoted his time to writing history books about American wars. More recently he had lived in Point Clear, Alabama, and Long Island, New York.

Reviews

[Sarah Adkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cool mystery that unfolds slowly. I like books that make me think, and this one is sort of a “slow burn “who done it?” situation. It’s a nice mix or thrill and mystery, and I love the attention to every detail felt and observed by the main character. Only reason for the 3 stars I will say, is the ending is a little lackluster. Not exactly a “wow” ending, but I would read it again.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens with a feeling vaguely reminiscent of the movie, Chinatown, only instead of hiring a private detective to do her investigating for her, the pretty girl in the case entrusts her secrets to a former lover who is now a Hollywood screenwriter.

Delia Jamison gives Johnny Lightfoot a list of former lovers she thinks may be trying to blackmail her. He agrees to try to talk to them to see if he can figure out which one might be the culprit. As he works his way through the list he finds that nearly every man on it harbors hurt feelings, and many of them make no secret of the ill will they bear her. He discovers that more than one of these men were seeing Delia at the time he was dating her himself, and several others had periods of involvement with her that overlapped with each other.

Johnny has an interesting way of describing things. Certain characters or situations are reminiscent of certain actors in certain scenes of certain old movies, or certain situations are like certain scenes of other movies. This saves a lot of boring description, but the downside is that the references are not very useful if you haven’t seen the movies.

The ending is sort of a surprise, particularly in that neither Johnny nor Delia’s current husband, after going to all the trouble to find the blackmailer and save her life, wind up with her.

I hate hate hate that so many of these audiobooks are abridged and don’t say up front that they are abridged. Maybe in this case that’s not such a great loss, but just think how many old movie references might have been cut out of this! So, I’m docking it a star for not saying it was abridged.

I found this book on Scribd.

[Lashante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite what everyone else is saying about this book, I thought it was AMAZING! Such a good read, the book was very suspenseful. It was full of details, and the ending was great. I really enjoyed reading it.

[UpstateNYgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author also wrote Forrest Gump but this story is very different.
It's more like a detective, thriller.
The main character, Delia is a newscaster in LA and someone is stalking her.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coworker recommended this book to me. about half way through I couldn't put it down. I was like watching a really good episode of law and order!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlikeable characters with little to no redeeming characteristics. I didn't care whether Johnny found out who the blackmailer was. Wasn't all that surprised at the ending. Wouldn't recommend.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book was awful, in my opinion. I couldn’t get through it without being bored. I’ve put it down several times for DAYS. That’s how bored I was for the first half of it.

The other half of the book was surprising, interesting, and—might I add—thrilling. I was not expecting that at all. I didn’t see it coming because I thought it was just another boring and bad book, but I thought wrong. I finished it in just one sitting.

This book definitely has potential but the start of the book just ruined it for me. Some will say it’s a slow pace, which it is, but it’s a no for me, love. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the characters. Just no. But I live for the thrill though. ❤️

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, but current situations are dating the story. Not surprised at the ending

[Patrick Barry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forrest Gump it wasn't. Lacking the humor, I found this tale of blackmail to be a non-compelling read.

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

""

[Britt Hanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest.... I didn't even finish this book. It had what could potentially be an interesting plot, but moved to slowly and the characters weren't very interesting. Perhaps I will finish it another time.

[Cws]

F Gro

[Sera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has nothing on Gump; skip it.

[Grey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent book for the most part. Writing is surprisingly mediocre, especially when compared with Groom's other books. Surprise ending made is worth wading through, though.

[jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable. Boring. Talked alot about what the people were eating. I don't care what they are having for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Slow moving. Unexciting.

[Dennis Willingham · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok pretty much sums it up.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

(entered years later; read before Goodreads)

Probably enjoyed it.

Newmarket library.