Service Wash

by Rupert Smith

No stranger to tabloid gossip, soap star Eileen Weathers is keen to put pay to the rumors about her murky past. She wants to reveal the true, unadulterated story, or so she says. But some of her stories don’t quite add up. Did Eileen commit murder? Did she really used to be a man? It’ll all come out in the wash . . . Rupert Smith, author of The Life of John Barrington, is a TV correspondent for the Guardian in London.

Genres: Gay

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Rupert Smith was born in Washington DC in 1960, and grew up in Surrey. He has lived in London since 1978. After graduating with a BA in English, he continued his studies at the University of London and in 1986 completed his PhD in theatre history. He is the author of many novels, under his own name and as James Lear and Rupert James. As a journalist, he has contributed to The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Times, The Los Angeles Times, Radio Times, Time Out, Gay Times and probably some other publications with the word "time" in the title.

His latest book GRIM is his first foray into horror.

Reviews

[LenaRibka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if I had some difficulties to get into the story at the beginning, a rating under 5 stars has never been questioned.

WHAT A TERRIFIC FINALE!
WHAT A GREAT WRITING!
WHAT AN OUTSTANDING PLOT!

Biography/memoir plays a major role in the books of Rupert Smith, in different forms and in different ways. Service Wash is a brilliantly told story about a TV-celebrity Eileen Weathers, whose private life, full of secrets and rumors, has always attracted much more attention and interest than her career as a leading star of the long-running soap New Town . Can Paul Mackrell, a young unfledged gay writer, to throw light on her mysterious past, can he persuade her to tell the truth(at last), and what will he pay for it?

THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

[Roger Kean · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a shame that the Kindle version has a lot of technical errors, but even those can't detract from the wicked humor, and if you have any knowledge of the way media organizations and personnel operate, that's a funny-bone bonus.

[KatieMc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rupert Smith writes a dishy tabloid tale with unexpected some twists that I didn’t see coming. Not all that new, but most enjoyable.

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rupert Smith's offerings, whether as himself or as James Lear, are always great value and this short novel is no exception.

What starts as a lighthearted and witty satire of the world of soap television and the tabloid press, gradually takes on a much more sinister turn to metamorphose into a thrilling tale of deception and murder.

It's clear that Smith had as much fun writing this as the reader has reading it. The writing, as usual, is impeccable (there are some great one liners) and the plot keeps us on edge to the very last word. A lot of fun.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars, hands down.

[A.B. Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghostwriter gets put through the wringer

A sardonic look at the world of celebrity TV. Some lough aloud moments and a good twist at the end.

[Paul Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, the story is well presented and keeps you reading on. While the writing style seems straight forward, it never spoon feeds but rather keeps you concentrating on the text. I especially enjoyed the cut scenes with the introduction of Sonia Sutherland in chapter 6.
All in, I found this well written and a good read. Recommended.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOTALLY BLINDSIDED

that is me at the end of the book

I do not know whether to be angry with Smith or bow at his bravura. I think I will go with the latter.

In this outrageous satire Smith leaves no stones unturned. Talk about washing your clothes in public. This is like finding all the nits in public, but is that so or is it just blindsiding hmm.

Let us just say an ending a la' Sonia Sutherland with all that that entails. The higher the ratings the better.

Hey all fun and smiles yes except for that niggling feeling that beneath all that is the truth about media manipulation which is the name of the game in our lives, starting from politics right down to which brand of toilet paper to buy.

Read with Ira

Fits into slot 32 of my reading challenge - A book about an interesting woman- hey nobody said anything about me admiring her or liking her which I don't, but interesting she is.