Silent Fury

Told mainly in flashback, this lackluster first novel swiftly takes the reader through four generations of the Irish-American Sweeney family before focusing on third-generation member Meg Sweeney and her niece Farrell McBride. The prologue, which carries the weight of suspense for the entire book, shows the two women being stalked by an unknown psychotic, who drugs them and sets their house on fire. The plot then backtracks to build up to that point and reveal the culprit, the motive and the fate of Meg and Farrell. But the reader can easily determine the assailant's identity long before the narrative returns to that fateful night, making the climax a decided letdown. Stylistic problems also abound: the flat prose style tells instead of shows what is going on; characterizations are two-dimensional; and the sex scenes, apparently designed to shock, instead contribute to the book's soap-opera atmosphere. An epilogue from the point of view of Farrell's husband ties up all the loose ends, if anyone still cares. (Sept.)