Collins begins Hollywood Husbands with a bistro scene that gathers three "typical" Hollywood husbands in one place. (Actually, one, Jack Python, is an ex-husband, having had a brief marriage when twenty-five.) This movielike opening identifies at the outset who the important male characters will be. Through a series of sometimes paragraph-length scenes, rapid-fire episodes, and strategically placed flashbacks that successfully conceal the identity of a pivotal character, Collins moves the story along at a fast, engrossing pace. She leads the reader to her characteristic "big bang" ending: the party or gala where all significant characters are gathered in one place to face the music, so to speak.

Always assumed to be rontans a clef, Collins's novels have characters and plot lines resembling real life. She insists, however, that her characters are composites. The actors, studio heads and owners, agents, and others are described in sufficient detail to make...