Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502040008
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Richard North Patterson. Knopf. $25.
The centerpiece of this book is a long trial. Any reader who gets that far is guilty of being an accessory to his own boredom.
If it were very, very good, ``Eyes of a Child'' would be a bad soap opera. It's a sordid story of two lawyers squabbling over their child while the she-lawyer's he-lover makes for a triangle or a paralellogram, or something. Or maybe not, since the he-lawyer is murdered in an opening scene that is so bad the reader suffers more than the victim. (The identity of the murderer is fairly clear to the reader long before the she-lawyer and the he-lover figure it out.)
Patterson has written an earlier thriller that was well-received and his publisher is promoting this one strongly. Make sure you miss it.
- ROBERT HILLDRUP
Dead Men Do Tell Tales.
By William R. Maples, Ph.D. and Michael Browning. Doubleday. $22.95.
When I received this book to review, I was eager to read about forensic anthropology - the scientific study of corpses to determine who, when, and how the remains became, well, remaindered. My introduction to forensic anthropology came through the delightful Elizabeth MacPherson series written by Sharyn McCrumb. I looked forward to reading a measured study of the science analogous to the way a story is explored on ``The McNeil-Lehrer News Hour.'' What I received is a study analogous to ``My husband fathered three children with other women while I was in the hospital having the breast augmentation surgery he demanded'' heard on ``The Ricki Lake Show.''
``When bones inside bodies are burned they change color, as the surrounding flesh sizzles and melts away'' is a quote which reflects my disappointment. Leave this one alone.
- LARRY SHIELD
Restraint.
By Sherry Sonnett. Simon & Schuster. $21.
If you read and enjoyed Josephine Hart's ``Damage,'' you should try ``Restraint.'' To quote another great American linguist, ``It's deja vu all over again.'' Even the reduced size of the book itself is evocative of Hart's novel, not to mention the one-word title and the terrific erotic scenes.
The narrator of Sonnett's novel is a woman, but as much a victim of obsession as Hart's narrator. Vega Johnson, a successful financial adviser in her mid-30s, is a 90s woman. Divorced, hard working, a loner who has no illusions, she meets and becomes totally overwhelmed by Paul Lattimer, a mysterious and handsome stranger. All of us - even Vega - know that Paul is dangerous and probably even an outlaw. But Vega feeds off Paul's energy to free herself from all limits - sexual, professional and ethical. ``Restraint'' loses all of its own, and explodes in a surprising and dramatic plot climax.
Sherry Sonnett recently earned a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School. This is her first novel.
- JUDY KWELLER
If You Ask Me.
By Libby Gelman-Waxner. A Wyatt Book for St. Martin's Press. $20.95.
Every month, regular readers of Premiere magazine turn first to Libby Gelman-Waxner's column. It's an island of disrespectful humor in a vast ocean of star-struck adoration. Gelman-Waxner, who claims to be the wife of a New York orthodontist, gives popular movies and their makers the treatment that they deserve. Her criticism, often based on costumes, hair styles and appearance, is a penetrating examination of the deeper superficiality that lies beneath the obvious superficiality of big-budget Hollywood pictures. Two typical examples:
On ``Dances With Wolves'': ``Mary McDonnell plays a white woman who was brought up in a tepee after her pioneer family was slaughtered and scalped. As a squaw, Mary behaves just the way I would: she wears stunning suede outfits trimmed with shells and Ralph Lauren-style Santa Fe fringe; she does her hair in a flattering shag look instead of too-severe tribal braids; and after her first husband dies, she holds out until a white movie star shows up.''
On ``Days of Thunder'': ``It's Tom Cruise's movie about how exciting and philosophical it is to be a stock-car racer. As he does in all his movies, Tom plays a cocky but gifted rebel who needs an older male star to teach him to be even cuter When all those older actors look at Tom, don't they think, Hmmm, he's half my age, half my height and he's making $10 million?''
This book is a collection of some of her best and nastiest moments. As we approach the self-congratulatory excesses of Oscar season, ``If You Ask Me'' is just the ticket. Recommended.
- MIKE MAYO, Book page editor
Robert Hilldrup is a Richmond writer and former newspaperman.
Larry Shield trains dogs and horses in Franklin County.
Judy Kweller is vice president of an advertising agency.
by CNB