Between 1960 and 1975 America seemed to become a more dangerous place. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King seemed to make murder an extension of American politics by other means. Hostage-taking became the terrorists' weapon for getting publicity and the criminals' best means of escaping pursuit. In February 1974, newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the underground group the Symbionese Liberation Army, an act which made clear that celebrities were vulnerable targets. There were increasing incidents of famous people stalked by mentally unbalanced fans.

Hearst's fate was still unknown two months later when The Fan Club was published. The novel describes the kidnap of Hollywood's reigning sex goddess, Sharon Fields, by four men.

Once again Wallace chooses as his central plot a situations as timely as the day's newspaper headlines.