Unscripted

Davis Bunn

Description

Young line producer Danny Byrd is well-known in Hollywood for being someone who gets things done on time and under budget. But when his reputation takes a beating after his partner--and former best friend--makes off with their investors' money, Danny has but one chance to redeem himself and restore his ruined career.LA lawyer Megan Pierce has sacrificed years of her life proving herself to her impossible bosses only to find herself disgusted at their snobbery and their specious business practices. When an opportunity to actually make a difference comes her way, she knows she has to grab it--even though she's not entirely clear what "it" is.Danny and Megan are each other's best hope for redemption. What they never could have imagined was that they might also be each other's best hope for love.Bestselling and award-winning author Davis Bunn takes you into the beating heart of Hollywood with two characters determined to thrive in a cutthroat business.

Sujets

• Romance

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493419340
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Endorsements
“Davis Bunn has absolutely done it. Unscripted kept me hooked to the end. What a suspenseful roller-coaster ride! The industry insights and the mystery surrounding this project were excellent. And what an ending!”
Janette Oke , bestselling author of When Calls the Heart
“Wow. What an incredible story of hope, challenge, and redemption. The characters and their journey remain vividly alive in my mind. The settings and the drama both hold such energy and life. I was there with them and was in tears at the end. Unscripted is a triumph.”
Jeff Arresty , president, Internet Bar Association
“This is Davis Bunn at his storytelling best. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, caught up in this intriguing tale of Hollywood. The story is filled with insider information entwined in a tale of love, loss, and redemption. Bravo, Davis. You deserve a standing ovation.”
Debbie Macomber , #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Bunn brings his story of the LA film world to vivid life with just the right level of grit and raw emotion. The negotiations, filming, and talent issues were incredibly realistic. As a film producer, I felt a genuine sense of very real stress over the deal in play. Thankfully the story developed into a project well done and an ultimate success. I for one would love to read a sequel!”
William Campbell , president, Apex Films
“Bunn’s characters remain firmly in my mind. The settings came to such vivid life. The industry and its characters, especially the lawyers and the movie moguls, are heartfelt. This book meant a lot to me—so many emotions stirred up as the characters struggled to move ahead, confronted demons, persevered with courage, and thrived in the end. What a treat for me to read Unscripted . I was in tears. What a great story of redemption in so many ways.”
Joseph Raia , president, American Bar Association’s International Law Division; senior partner, Gunster Law Firm, Miami
“Bravo! Unscripted runs the full gamut of emotions. Bunn’s fascinating characters reveal an amazing introduction to Hollywood, something we audiences catch only glimpses of on-screen. Bunn’s knowledge of the film world and what making movies entails is truly remarkable. This story deserves great success and hopefully someday will become a movie itself.”
Carol Johnson , founder, Christy Award for Fiction
“ Unscripted is a thrilling emotional journey. The story has both heart and purpose and swiftly engages the reader through wonderful characters and intriguing complications. Bunn’s work is entertaining from page one and carries the drama smoothly to a powerful ending. I have already started rereading. This story is simply too enjoyable to experience only once.”
Ken Estin , Emmy Award–winning writer/producer of Cheers , The Simpsons , and Beverly Hills Cop
“I read Unscripted in a single sitting. Part of my job as a director of photography was reading scripts, and as a result I have become somewhat jaded when it comes to emotions displayed on a page. Today I was amazed to find my eyes damp twice and my throat constricted on a third occasion. I stand in awe of Bunn’s talent. I truly love this work. It is, quite simply, outstanding.”
Paul Wheeler , cinematographer and former lecturer at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Half Title Page
Books by Davis Bunn
Outbreak
The Domino Effect
Unscripted
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2019 by T. Davis Bunn
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1934-0
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the friends who introduced me to the world behind the camera:
Ken Wales Susan Wales Chad Gundersen Paul Wheeler
Contents
Cover
Endorsements
Half Title Page
Books by Davis Bunn
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
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About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
1
THE ENTIRE BEVERLY HILLS JAIL was nonsmoking and air-conditioned. Four inmates to a cell. No overcrowding. Decent food for a prison. Three hours each day in the central pen rather than the customary one. Showers with hot water. And most importantly, the inmates were safe. All violent offenders were sent to Men’s Central Jail, which was a totally different story. The threat of being reclassed and shipped out kept the Beverly Hills inmates meek as kittens.
Not that Daniel Byrd had much experience with prisons. Just one stint in juvie, convicted when he was twelve and released three days before his fourteenth birthday. For robbing a bank.
This time was different. For one thing, he was innocent. Totally.
Of course, he was guilty of a whole host of other offenses. The difference was, the things he had gotten so terribly wrong were not actually against the law.
Trusting the wrong partner. That was a lifetime felony, for sure. This being the same person Danny had called his best friend since childhood. But that was before John Rexford had cleared out their accounts and skipped town with a would-be actress. Leaving Danny to take the fall.
It was probably just as well that Danny had no idea where the louse was, since the vengeance he spent so many imprisoned hours imagining was definitely on the wrong side of legal.
Which was exactly how Danny was spending the morning when his world shifted on its axis.
The first notice he had of pending change was when his cell door opened and the guard said, “Let’s go, Byrd. Gather your belongings. You’re being moved.”
Danny protested, “I’m not due in court for another three weeks.”
The guard was a pro at ignoring anything a prisoner might cast his way. “Don’t keep me waiting, Byrd.”
His three cellmates were an Israeli smuggler arrested with half a pound of conflict diamonds, a Rodeo Drive salesclerk who tried to play hide-the-turnip with an emerald pendant, and a professional cat burglar from Freeport, Bahamas, dark as the nights he loved. The smuggler shifted on his bunk, turning his back to the world. The salesclerk offered Danny a grimace. The thief said, “You just remember what I told you.”
“Take a chill pill,” Danny replied. “Keep my eyes on the next step. See nothing, say less.”
The thief offered Danny a palm. “You stay cool now.”
The guard pointed to the invisible line in the corridor. Danny’s month and a half in jail had taught him to keep his mouth shut and wait. The officer locked the door and started down the long hall. Danny fell into step behind him. His gut was one solid block of dirty grey ice.
Beyond three more steel doors loomed the shadow world of California’s general prison population. Gangs. Drugs. Brutality. Danny knew with every shred of his being that he would probably not survive.
The guard’s name was Escobar. Danny suspected he was the only prisoner who knew that. Most inmates in the Beverly Hills Jail were just passing through, held here for a few months or less. Once their convictions were set, they were processed into the California penal system. There was no need to bother with such trivialities as learning guards’ names. But Danny had been memorizing people’s names for so long the habit was ingrained. He knew the identity of every guard in their wing.
Escobar led him through four of the five steel doors separating Danny from daylight. They entered the octagonal booking chamber, and Escobar pointed him onto a side bench. “Sit.”
Danny took one look at the others occupying his perch and felt his last shred of hope drain away.
When he didn’t move fast enough, Escobar gripped his right shoulder and guided him over. “I said sit.” He examined Danny’s face. “You gonna be sick?”
“No.”
“You better not get my floor dirty, you hear?”
Danny swallowed hard. “I’m good.”
Escobar nodded, clearly satisfied his words had the desired effect, and turned away.
There were fourteen others lined up along the bench. They were cuffed and linked together by waist chains. Their ankles were bound by a flexible link just long enough for them to take little half-steps. They all wore orange prison-transfer jumpsuits with the dreaded MCJ lettering across the back.
Men’s Central Jail was a bunker-like structure between Chinatown and the Los Angeles River. It looked like a windowless, high-security warehouse with an electrified fence and guard towers. MCJ held five thousand inmates in a space built to house half that. The place was overcrowded and highly dangerous.
Three weeks , Danny silently repeated. I can survive three weeks.
Three men down from Danny, a kid with pale golden skin started crying softly.

Forty-five minutes later, Danny was still waiting. Wasting time was just one of the daily punishments embedded into prison life.
Two guards Danny had never seen before appeared through the steel sally port. One of them carried the shotgun required for all prisoner transfers. “Stand up and face the right-hand door.”
When Danny rose with the others, the guard behind the booking counter said, “Not you, Byrd. Plant yourself back on the bench.”
The other prisoners looked his wa