In May 2003, I became involved in a doomed book project with reporter Anita Busch about the federal investigations of Los Angeles private detective Anthony Pellicano, the "Sleuth to the Stars, " who had targeted Busch, among others. Directly or indirectly, usually working through a group of prominent Los Angeles attorneys, Pellicano had represented a wide variety of Hollywood celebrities, including actresses Rosanne Barr, Farrah Fawcett, and Elizabeth Taylor, actors Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, and James Woods, corporate executives Brad Grey, Kirk Kerkorian, Michael Nathanson, Michael Ovitz, and Don Simpson, as well as Michael Jackson, George Harrison of The Beatles, and television personality Jerry Springer, among many others.My two years of "volunteer" work with Busch serves as a testament to the old adage, "No good deed goes unpunished." In fact, the fallout from this experience, especially Busch's thirteen-year smear campaign against me, continues to this day-even after Pellicano's convictions in 2008 for conspiracy and racketeering. . . . I have described this situation to friends and colleagues as "The Book Project from Hell."Hollywood Confidential is a true story about friendship and betrayal, as well as loyalty and greed-along with an offbeat new dimension to what is known about one of Hollywood's most-publicized scandals: the federal prosecution of Anthony Pellicano and his illegal wiretapping activities.