THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996                 TAG: 9603180183
SECTION: COMMENTARY               PAGE: J3   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: SHIRLEY PRESBERG
                                             LENGTH: Short :   42 lines

TENNIS STAR'S NOVEL FALLS SHORT OF THE NET

BREAKING POINT

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA AND LIZ NICKLES

Random House. 292 pp. $23.

When a woman plunges through a greenhouse roof at a tony cocktail party for tennis celebrities, retired tennis champion Jordan Myles decides to investigate in Breaking Point, the second mystery by Martina Navratilova and Liz Nickles.

Unfortunately, the story goes nowhere from there. First someone attacks Jordan. She escapes. Someone tries to kill her again. She escapes again. There's a third try. Guess what?

Finally, when the only suspect is killed, the real villains turn out to be a group of Japanese businessmen to whom vague allusion is made near novel's end.

There is little to redeem Breaking Point. One paragraph even contains this astounding non sequitur:

``. . . The waitress approached with a pot of coffee, and I waved her away. Framed black-and-white photos of stars of this vintage were stacked on the walls as well . . . ''

The dialogue is stilted and unbelievable:

``That is right. I want you to join my team until I'm back on my feet.''

``But, you see, I'm scheduled through summer.''

``I will pay you double your usual fee, whatever that is,'' she stated flatly, setting her glass on the table.

Perhaps the editors at Random House, which sued Joan Collins for breach of contract, were preoccupied with the wrong celebrity. by CNB