A gripping modern-day noir thriller featuring a hotshot lawyer unexpectedly drawn into a web of violence and intrigue by the ex-wife he hasn’t spoken to since their bitter divorce, written by the former president of Court TV.

The day Henry Gladstone, a lawyer at a white- shoe Manhattan law firm, met Leslie Dunlop, he knew she was trouble—but he couldn’t say no. Their steamy affair became a marriage filled with secrets and lies that collapsed as spectacularly as it began.

Cut to today: Leslie, who Henry hasn’t heard from since their divorce, bursts into his office and announces that if he doesn’t hand over a quarter- million dollars, they’ll both be killed. Henry dismisses her story as a stupid attempt to steal his money and—despite his still-smoldering desire for her—tells her to get lost. But when he comes home to find his apartment ransacked, he begins to think this time Leslie may be telling the truth. And now that he desperately needs to find her, she’s disappeared again.

In a harrowing journey through the glittering heights and shadowy corners of New York City, where the legal world meets the dark underside of the city, Henry assembles a team that includes his best friend Aiden, a private investigator named Gabriella, and Aiden’s ex-wife, Emma, to track down a missing engagement ring, stay one step ahead of the Russian mob, and uncover the secrets of Leslie’s past. As the screws turn tighter and tighter, Henry must learn who he can trust to uncover the truth...before it’s too late.

In What She’s Hiding, Art Bell masterfully weaves a noirish tale of suspense and emotional turbulence as a dangerous woman draws Henry even further into a high-stakes game that neither one of them may survive. 

Discover the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central in what New York Times bestselling author, Dan Lyons, calls the “funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense.”

Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest

In 1988, a mid-level HBO employee and comedy fan, Art Bell, was determined to give the world what it needed: a channel entirely devoted 24/7 to comedy. Starting a new television channel required millions of dollars and a plan. He had the plan.

            After numerous unsuccessful pitches, Art’s proposal for what would eventually become Comedy Central found its way to the chairman of HBO and, miraculously, got the green light. Constant Comedy is the riveting story of the birth and early years of one of cable television’s most successful channels, as told by the man who was there from the very beginning.

            In this unique and funny memoir, Art pulls back the curtain on Comedy Central’s early days, awash in skeptical management, quirky comedians, and inexperience run wild. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work in the television industry, this is your guide. As you’ll learn soon enough, the business of comedy is anything but funny.

REVIEWS

"VERDICT: [Bell’s] unexpectedly gripping account of the early 1990s cable television scene makes for compelling reading."  Library Journal

Having grown up in my dad’s “Mad Men” world of advertising where clients are fickle and public trends change with each phase of the moon, I thought I knew what to expect when picking up Bell’s memoir.

The book was a surprise.

It read like one of the well-plotted mysteries I’ve been enjoying during the Covid crisis that has kept me from reviewing shows in person.

Usually, reading a non-fiction book takes me at least a drawn-out week. And I’m a speed reader. Instead, Bells’s memoir was in my “can’t-put-this-down, can’t dinner wait” category. 

Chicago Theater and Arts.com