The Power Trip

December 24, 2012
In Collins’s latest, five couples are invited aboard Russian billionaire Aleksandr Kasianenko’s yacht to celebrate the birthday of his supermodel girlfriend, Bianca. During the week away from it all, Taye Sherwin, a famous, black British footballer and his wife, Ashley, a blonde with paid-for breasts, rekindle their stalled sex life; Sierra, the self-medicated wife of a sleazy U.S. Senator Hammond Patterson Jr., asserts herself against her mercurial beast of a husband; Sierra’s former lover Flynn, a renegade journalist, and his stalwart colleague Xuan, “beautiful, strong-minded, and conveniently more into women than men,” don’t quite fit in; sweet Latin pop sensation Luca Perez learns that his lover, Jeremy, arrogant and money hungry, wants to role-play his fetishes outside their bedroom; and movie star Cliff Baxter begins to think that Lori, his girlfriend-of-the-moment, may be a keeper. After the guests spend days lounging and dining in luxury on the Sea of Cortez, the ship is stormed by pirates, leading to a fantastical denouement. Climbing aboard with this sea of extravagant creatures, whose sexual tastes lie on the fringe of raunchy, is abashedly rousing, and what more could one hope for from Collins? Agent: Morton Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

March 25, 2013
This latest steamy tale from Collins centers on a luxurious cruise featuring an elite group of men and women from the realms of politics, business, entertainment, and sports who must face both their own scandals and the threat of an international band of pirates. The full cast—led by Collins herself—certainly brings vocal talent to the production, offering a broad range of performance styles. As the voices and accents for characters shift with each narrator, this variety will either prove energizing or dizzying, depending on the listener’s taste. In the case of one particularly despicable villain—the sexually reckless Senator Hammond Patterson—it is interesting to hear the narrators’ different renderings. Collins’s performance captures the titillating tone of her own brand nicely, setting the stage for the rest of the cast to apply their craft as the storyline unfolds. Porter and Graham shine as they tackle the range of emotions and larger-than-life personalities. A St. Martin’s hardcover.