Collins brings ‘Drop Dead Beautiful’ to Las Vegas

Lucky Santangelo is back, and this time she's building a huge hotel in Las Vegas.

But when it came time for her creator, Jackie Collins, to create her fictitious hotel, she tossed out the idea of coming up with a themed resort.

"I figure every single theme has been done," Collins said in a recent phone interview.

On Saturday, Collins will read from and sign her 25th novel, "Drop Dead Beautiful," at the Range Steakhouse at Harrah's Las Vegas.

About that big hotel of Lucky's ...

"It's just going to be super luxurious, super fabulous," Collins said, fittingly, since her books deal with the super fabulous rich and celebrated. That subject matter has sold more than 400 million copies in more than 40 countries, according to her publisher. She's also hit best-seller gold 24 times on The New York Times list, and the latest probably will continue that winning streak.

Las Vegas figured in Lucky's first foray into print, "Chances," published in 1981. "Now she's come full circle," Collins said. "She's building a huge hotel called The Keys."

If anyone knows all about hotels, it's Collins, who figures she easily could become a consultant. She's stayed in enough that she often wonders about things like, "Why aren't the sinks higher?"

Las Vegas is a natural setting for Collins' books these days. All the glitterati seem to spend a lot of time here, enough to make the city their second home.

"It's a Disneyland for adults," Collins said. "You get to see America in Las Vegas. The locals and the visitors. You see all shapes and sizes. All nationalities, kids, families."

And she understands why celebrities love the city. "They do believe it, that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But that's not true. There are a lot of paparazzi."

Collins has been here many times before, but she came up from her home in Los Angeles for a few weekends to "mosey around," she said.

She stayed at Bellagio, which she rates "very highly. I had a gorgeous suite overlooking the Strip. It's very private, as private as you can get in Vegas. I also love the Rio and The Venetian."

This is the sixth book featuring Lucky -- besides "Chances," there's "Dangerous Kiss," Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge," "Lady Boss" and "Lucky."

In "Drop Dead Beautiful," Lucky Santangelo, who has been a casino developer and Hollywood studio magnate, is back in Vegas to open The Keys, a casino with luxury apartments. She seems to have it all: a movie-star husband, three children and her father, Gino Santangelo, is about to celebrate his 95th birthday.

Then she begins to get mysterious notes, taunting her, and setting into motion a series of calamitous events.

The book will be available for purchase at the event, ahead of its scheduled publication on Tuesday.

Collins also will sign her book at other Harrah's properties around the country.

As to why Lucky has been a very lucky character for Collins, the author has a theory. "She's a James Bond for women," she said. "I was so fed up with books where men ruled and women were having nervous breakdowns."