Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 17, 1990 TAG: 9006200016
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Judy Kweller
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Milk and Honey" is the third Decker/Lazarus mystery, and it certainly stands up to the quality of the first two, "The Ritual Bath" and "Sacred and Profane."
The novel is enjoyable on every level. Peter Decker, the tough vice cop, and Rina Lazarus, the devoutly Orthodox young Jewish widow, are complex, real characters. Kellerman makes you care about them and their relationship. That would be enough for a terrific story, but the major plotline involves a horribly riveting and suspenseful mass murder. And beyond that, there is an old Vietnam buddy of Decker's who has been accused of rape and seems to enjoy hanging around Rina. "Milk and Honey" is so engrossing that you'll want to set some time aside to read it. Otherwise you'll find yourself staying up until 2 a.m. as I did.
- JUDY KWELLER
\ Lazarus.
By Morris West. St. Martin's. $19.95.
In this final novel of his papal trilogy ("The Shoes of the Fisherman" and "The Clowns of God" being the first two) Morris West offers an unevenly written but thought-provoking examination of one possible future for the Catholic Church. Historical events have been kind to West's future vision of the church. The election of a Polish Cardinal to the papacy nicely paralleled the ascension of the Russian Cardinal Kyril in West's first novel. The current conservative shift in church teachings precipitating unrest and defections among the more liberal church members provides the backdrop for West to explore the possibility that a near-death experience might humanize a rigid, dogmatic Pope, forcing him to question the choices he has made.
When this formerly reactionary Pope decides to alter the fabric of the church, forces mass within the organization to prevent any significant change. Sensing weakness, terrorist groups realize that the assassination of the Pope could rupture the power of the church forever. The marriage of these two themes is the weakness of the novel. The book shines when West explores the soul of the Pope and through him the soul of the church; it drags when West tries to manufacture tension using international terrorism as a vehicle. As with many trilogies, quality declines as books emerge.
LARRY SHIELD
\ Copp in the Dark.
By Don Pendleton. Donald I. Fine. $18.95.
The Whole Truth.
By Anthony Robinson. Donald I. Fine. $19.95.
My judgment is that neither of these is worth recommending, but I might not be right.
Pendleton's Joe Copp, LA private eye, is usually among the best series detectives going. This is the fourth, and it's weak and outrageous in every way. But I admit I read it all, in one sitting that lasted until 3 a.m. Pendleton's plot is flaky and frenetic. Joe Copp wanders around without the least idea of what he's up to. And the mood is all wrong. Here, for example, Joe and an alluring stage director head to the lady's digs for a really run tryst within minutes of learning about the extravagant murders of FIVE of their friends.
Pendleton uses metaphors with a sloppy abandon I expected never to see again after David Stockman left federal service. For example: "Good grief, Charlie Brown, I had a pot running over, and buried in all that I had a bunch of talented kids with impossible dreams and maybe a bit too much reach for the grasp."
"The Whole Truth" is a courtroom mystery set in upstate New York. It is written by a professor of creative writing. The Book of the Month Club selected it. I found it solemn and dull, but, as Joe Copp would say, what do I know?
- TOM SHAFFER
by CNB