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FROM THE DIRECTOR OF SCARFACE AND DRESSED TO KILL—
A FEMALE REVENGE STORY

When the beautiful young videographer offered to join his campaign, Senator Lee Rogers should’ve known better. But saying no would have taken a stronger man than Rogers, with his ailing wife and his robust libido. Enter Barton Brock, the senator’s fixer. He’s already gotten rid of one troublesome young woman—how hard could this new one turn out to be?

Pursued from Washington D.C. to the streets of Paris, 18-year-old Fanny Cours knows her reputation and budding career are on the line. But what she doesn’t realize is that her life might be as well...

• The first novel from the legendary film director and a former editor of the New York Times
• Brian de Palma’s more than thirty films include Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables, Dressed to Kill, Body Double, Blow Out, and the original Mission: Impossible
• Original cover painting by Paul Mann

"When we were all trying to get our first pictures made, Brian De Palma was leading the way, forging ahead, giving a real example to follow. Brian was the model of the truly independent filmmaker, no matter what the situation or the scale of the picture or the size of the budget. When he got into a tough situation, he fought, he did the best he could, he learned and he moved on and made the next picture. Now, with Susan Lehman, he’s turned his energies to writing. In Are Snakes Necessary?, you have the same individual voice, the same dark humor and bitter satire, the same overwhelming emotional force. It’s like having a new Brian De Palma picture."

— Martin Scorsese

"Brilliant, lurid, twisty fun...compulsively readable and fiendishly constructed."

— David Koepp, screenwriter of JURASSIC PARK

"One of the world’s greatest filmmakers has helped produce a fast-moving page turner, breathlessly paced...irresistible for any De Palma fan."

— Bret Easton Ellis, author of AMERICAN PSYCHO