cover image Pacific Coast Highway

Pacific Coast Highway

Stephen Smoke. HarperCollins Publishers, $4.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-06-104272-0

When billionaire Jamison Sanford suspects foul play in the highway hit-and-run death of his young wife Barbara, he turns to neighbor Derek Cheney, the recently retired LAPD chief of detectives. Because of his psychiatrist wife's heavy work schedule, Cheney finds himself with time on his hands and agrees to investigate the death, uncovering a string of serial murders perpetrated by a deranged director of slasher films. As Cheney works through his guilt and ambivalence over his wife's determination to undergo plastic surgery to enlarge her breasts, he is confronted with the seductive wiles of a beautiful reporter who scents a possible career-making story in the alleged hit-and-run. The author of Black Butterfly has created a fast-paced thriller with occasional insights into life, love and relationships--Smoke calls a muted TV the late 20th century's electronic fireplace and notes that the phrase ``difficult divorce'' is redundant. A film-writer and director himself, Smoke keeps the surprising turns of plot coming until the proverbial fat lady has sung. (Apr.)