Actor Danny Belson is a hard worker and a master of his craft. But he's having a hard time getting noticed by the power brokers of Hollywood. Years of working in small theaters and waiting tables have prepared him for his big break, but have they prepared him for his future? 

Told in flashbacks, Danny's story goes back and forth to his finally getting his big acting break to his trip to prison on the bus after a fateful accident turns into a wrongful conviction. As he looks back over what brought him to this place (both literally and emotionally), he looks back over the choices that almost made him a star and did make him a prisoner. 

Inside Out is told in clever juxtapositions. You see inside Hollywood and inside prison. You see those struggling in Hollywood as well as those with power. You see revenge and redemption, hopelessness and generosity, closed doors and opened windows. 

Author Jack Kearney is a veteran actor himself, having been in several shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including WKRP in Cincinnati (one of my favorites). He knows the business from the inside out, so to speak. He brings his expertise to this story. 

This is not a book for everyone. While it's easy to read, the scenes flowing quickly from one to the next, it does have some graphic, some might say brutal, scenes (particularly in the prison) that could offend some readers. A certain amount of maturity is recommended before diving in. In addition, as it was originally written as a script in the 1980s, it is a bit dated in places and relies a little too much on the superficiality that you can get away with in a script (particularly from the the '80s) that makes a novel feel glib. 

A copy of the ebook was provided by the author through @BookTasters for this review.