review: the secret life of damian spinelli by carolyn hennesy

If you’re a fan of General Hospital, you’ll definitely want to read the new tie-in book by Carolyn Hennesy. With The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, Hennesy completely nails Spinelli’s voice. It is filled with his hubris and outrageous imagination. I loved the parts when Diane Miller (Hennesy’s character on the show) calls him out. Here’s part of one scene:

“Stop it!” I said, flinging my pen down for the tenth time. “Stop it. You have never been on the Nevskiy Prospekt or in St. Petersburg, for that matter!”

“Your doubt of my veracity causes me no end of sadness, Brusque Barrister,” Spinelli said, doing a terrific basset hound impression. “But I can attest, most assuredly, that I was a prize student of the comical arts. Perhaps you’ll recall the Port Charles carnival of some months ago and how my ‘clune’ skills dazzled and delighted all who saw them?”

But those great scenes between Diane and Spinelli didn’t make up the bulk of the book, which is primarily Spinelli’s cockamamie stories, and thus, I got annoyed by his ridiculousness a few more times than I would’ve liked. Just like when I watch the show, I wanted to smack Spinelli. Now that is making a book come alive.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Hyperion.