In a moody fictional paean to a post-9/11 New York City, Block intertwines the fates of several characters with that of a man so crazed by the death of his wife and kids at the World Trade Center that he becomes a serial killer. Dubbed the Carpenter by tabloids, he runs amok, calling his murders "human sacrifices." Each killing has unforeseeable consequences: Writer John Creighton is briefly accused of one of the slayings and becomes famous because of it; art gallery owner Susan Pomerance, who knows one of the victims, goes on a dangerous sex binge; bored and depressed ex-police commissioner Francis Buckram finds his career plans disrupted by his efforts to find the killer. Some surprises emerge as well, such as when Creighton and Pomerance wrestle with their own violent instincts.
Pomerance's sexual voraciousness isn't convincing, but the rest of the cast is a vivid assortment of urban realists confronting their vulnerabilities. Stark action and rich details of New York City neighborhoods enhance a gritty story set in times that are full of doubt as well as surprising moments of hope. (Morrow, $24.95)
BOTTOM LINE: Haunting little-town blues
By Cindy Adams
A New Yorker and her new Yorkie make for a dynamic duo in this memoir by Gotham gossip Adams, the syndicated New York Post columnist. Jazzy, a Yorkshire terrier, arrived as a gift from a friend after the 1999 death of Adams's comedian husband, Joey. Immediately, Jazzy makes the brassy Cindy as mushy as fresh Alpo: "I phone from across the world just to hear Jazzy bark." No Adams tale is complete without boldfaced names, so there are guest appearances by Sly Stallone (who gets miffed during a phone call, not realizing that Adams is yelling at the dog, not him) and Panama's deposed strongman Manuel Noriega (whose interview from prison ends when Jazzy unplugs the phone). There are also daffy glimpses of Adams's fabulous acquaintances: Who knew Marlon Brando's companion, Tarita Teriipaia, boasts about doing her own housework? (St. Martin's, $19.95)
BOTTOM LINE: Go fetch it
Page-turner of the week
By James Siegel
A flawed hero and taut suspense elevate this thriller to a near-Hitchcockian level. Ad exec Charles Schine betrays his loving wife (not to mention a gravely ill daughter) by having an affair with a stranger on a train: the beautiful Lucinda, who is also married. At a seedy hotel the pair are attacked by a gunman, and Lucinda is raped. But the thug, Vasquez, isn't finished with them. Realizing what the pair are up to, he begins to blackmail them. The adulterers do as he says to stop their spouses from finding out why they were in the hotel to begin with.
Things spiral downward as Charles becomes "a new recruit in the army of the morally dispossessed," resorting to plundering his daughter's rainy-day fund. Soon the adman edges into criminal territory to get Vasquez off his back, but one step on the slippery slope becomes a free fall that leads to murder. Siegel keeps the tension high by focusing on the pressures that force a basically decent man into desperate maneuvering, and there are several nifty twists before a huge coincidence that I almost derails the plot's credibility near the climax. If you can stay on track through that, though, it's a fast ride to a roaring conclusion. (Warner, $23.95)
BOTTOM LINE: Catch this express
By Fern Michaels
Michaels, the author of 45 bestselling novels, begins her latest with plenty of tension. Ten-year-old Cady accepts a dare to slide down a cable strung 30 feet over a pond. Jeff, a bully, chases her, but when both plunge into the water Jeff's death is blamed on Cady, who is temporarily paralyzed and can't recall what happened.
Twenty years later the mystery rests on whether Cady can at last recover her memory of the incident. Flat characters, improbable situations and dumb dialogue won't bother fans of this natural storyteller, but most others will be bored by the book's fairy-tale predictability. (Atria, $24)
BOTTOM LINE: Wilts on the vine
- Contributors:
- Cathy Burke,
- Lan Nguyen,
- Edward Karam,
- Annette Gallagher Weisman.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
