Aloha, Mr. Lucky

All four authors (David Nevin, Thomas Fleming, Barbara D'Amato, Spider Robinson) who have donated blurbs to the bound galleys of Hirschfeld's debut comic thriller invoke the names of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard--and therein lies the rub. Except for the Hawaiian setting (Waikiki and environs, laid on with a trowel), there's really nothing much new here. We've met all these characters too many times before: the goofy, slightly seedy but basically lovable hero (a magazine writer named Star Hollie); the seriously sociopathic hillbilly twin brothers, Ray Don and Bobby Lee; the venal TV evangelist, the Reverend Jaycie Pitts; and the rest of the usual suspects, including randy women and colorful locals. Hollie sets up a fake sex-for-sale scam to pay off his debt to a dangerous loan shark called Mako, and gets into a heap of trouble after a woman who falls for the scam is found dead on a nearby beach; the twins douse themselves with Pine Sol and Lemon Pledge before committing mayhem; Pitts's greed involves him in a lethal battle between property developers and environmentalists. About the only readers who might be delighted at Hirschfeld's late entry into this overcrowded field are Floridians--who could feel some relief at seeing all the silliness and violence transferred to another venue. Agent, Eleanor Wood. (Mar.)