Murder Meets Hollywood’s Publicity Machine in Catherine Bator’s Debut Novel, “A Good, Hard Slap”
United States – October 10, 2026 – Independent author Catherine Bator announces the release of her debut historical thriller, A Good, Hard Slap: A Novel of Early Hollywood. Set in January 1930, the novel follows seven women connected to a movie studio’s stenography pool whose effort to protect one of their own draws them into a dangerous struggle over secrets, loyalty, and power.
At the fictional Kaplan Talking Pictures, the transition from silent films to talkies is transforming the business. Then the studio’s biggest star, Garland Westover, is murdered. The women of the steno pool know more about his death than they can afford to reveal. Their plan initially appears to work, even as the studio’s publicity department manufactures its own account to conceal the truth from the moviegoing public. But when their plan begins to unravel, the women discover that their greatest threat comes from the studio that employs them.
At the center of the story is Gracie Perkins, an ambitious stenographer who dreams of writing movies and whose relationship with Westover is more complicated than her colleagues realize. Alongside her supervisor, Madeleine Singer, Gracie must confront the limits of silence as a means of protection in a workplace where men control careers, credit, and reputations.
Combining murder mystery, studio intrigue, and the atmosphere of Prohibition-era Hollywood, A Good, Hard Slap explores experiences that predate the #MeToo movement while anticipating its central questions about abuse, accountability, and whose stories are believed. Humor and the daily absurdities of studio life bring texture to a suspenseful story about the women working behind the stars.
The novel has received the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, with Literary Titan praising its vivid setting and compelling focus on “the women behind the stars.” The novel has also received a “Get It” accolade from Kirkus Reviews, which called it “A captivating 1930s mystery thriller with a surprising amount of depth.” Los Angeles Book Review highlighted its potential for discussion, declaring, “this was built for book clubs.”
Drawing on Bator’s own experience in the film industry, the novel brings the studio workplace to life through stenography offices, costume departments, publicity schemes, and the often uncredited labor that keeps the movies moving. It also introduces the characters whose story continues in the Nick and Gracie detective series.
Readers can purchase A Good, Hard Slap: A Novel of Early Hollywood through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Visit either retailer and search for the title or Catherine Bator to discover a historical thriller about the secrets a studio will protect and the women who must decide which stories deserve to be told.
A Good, Hard Slap: A Novel of Early Hollywood is also available through iBooks, Kobo, Baker and Taylor, Gardiners, eSentral, Scribd, and Vearsa through Book Baby’s distribution network. Independent bookstores can order the book through Independent Publishers Group (IPG).
About the Author
Catherine Bator was born in Hollywood and worked in the stenography pool at MGM. Her show business career also took her to Paramount, Universal, and Sam Goldwyn studios, providing firsthand experience of the industry that informs her fiction. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Frank, and their wire fox terrier, Buster Keaton. Her interests include hot jazz, vintage cocktails and the city’s historic establishments. A Good, Hard Slap is her debut novel and the origin story for the Nick and Gracie detective series.
Media Contact
Company Name: Literary Titan
Contact Person: Catherine Bator
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Country: United States
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