The Red Carpet at Cannes Blog Tour Author: Duane Byrge

THE RED CARPET AT CANNES 
by Duane Byrge
* Mystery *

Title: THE RED CARPET AT CANNES
Author: Duane Byrge
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 235
Genre: Mystery

Veteran film critic Duane Byrge takes readers on a behind-the-scenes thrill ride at the legendary Cannes Film Festival in his new mystery, THE RED CARPET AT CANNES.

A longtime movie writer and editor for the Hollywood Reporter, Byrge turns to the thriller genre to tell the tale of Ryan Hackbart, who, like Byrge, covers the Cannes Film Festival for the fictional Hollywood Times.

Hackbart finds himself in the middle of a Hitchcock-style mystery as he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the lead actress of the festival’s opening-night film. Interrogated but released, his passport is confiscated, and he is hounded by the world media. He must solve the murder before the culprit kills him or the police arrest him.

Aided by his female companion, Delisha, Ryan’s investigation thrusts Hackbart into the underbelly of the most glamorous film festival in the world and opens his eyes to what lies underneath the glitz and glamour.

After a long, successful career as a film journalist, Byrge decided to change to the novel format to tell his story.

“You can reveal truths within a novel that you can’t convey with the ‘facts’ of a news story,” Byrge explains. “It allows me to flesh out the full story of the events I have covered.”

THE RED CARPET AT CANNES will please mystery fans and film buffs alike. It’s a five-star travelogue straight into a celebrity universe of dazzling parties, high-end cuisine, superstar celebrities, high fashion, and movie-world politics.

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Ryan wrapped his arms around Delisha's shoulders. At the gold-handled door of their Carlton Hotel suite, he snapped in the entry card.  He pushed the door open, and Delisha turned, facing him. As the evening breeze snuggled in across the room, Ryan saw that the windows  had been left open.   The curtains fluttered, and he could see the brightly lit yachts.  A grand eruption  of pinks, blues,  silvers, and greens sparkled across the sky. The kaleidoscope of colors exploded as the fireworks shimmered down, and formed an aurora  of magical brilliance. Ryan envisioned Cary  Grant and Grace Kelly in  To Catch  a Thief at her door at the Carlton.  In  that incandescent flash of his mind's eye, that gloriously  romantic movie moment was no  longer an unattainable reflection for Ryan. Through the crazed magic of the Cannes  Film Festival, Ryan and Delisha had morphed into the forms of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.  Ryan's all-time favorite movie moment from To Catch  a Thief  had entered into the frame of his  own life – he in his black tux, and she in her light blue gown.

 

Duane Byrge has written for The Hollywood Reporter for more than 20 years. Starting out as a secretary for the entertainment industry newspaper while he was a graduate student at the University of Southern California, Byrge rose to serve in various capacities, including news editor and senior film critic. He serves as a consultant to the Chicago International Film Festival, where he brought Halle Berry to Chicago in 2001 for a career tribute.

A Wisconsinnative, Byrge holds a Ph.D. in Communications, with an emphasis in Cinema, from the University of Southern California, where he has served as a lecturer. His Ph.D. dissertation was the basis for the book, “The Screwball Comedy Films,” which he co-authored. The book was re-released in hardcover in 1991 by McFarland Publishing and re-released in paperback in 2001 as part of the publication’s Classic Series.

Currently an assistant professor of Mass Communications at Virginia State University, Byrge teaches journalism, motion picture history and appreciation, and mass communications. He is working on a book on movie producers, “Before the Shooting Begins,” which will be published by the University of California, Berkeley Press.

Website: www.duanebyrge.com

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/byrge_duane