cover image Double Identity

Double Identity

Steve Zettler. Onyx Books, $5.99 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-451-40790-0

The old dead-ringer gimmick reaches cynically witty new heights in Zettler's (The Second Man) latest thriller set in New York and Paris. Joe Bradlee has burnt out on the Secret Service and is going downhill fast in the NYPD when FBI agent Jack Harper recruits him to play decoy for his double, a federal witness stashed in Paris named Billy Barton. A meeting on the cross-Atlantic flight leads to a steamy romance between Joe and Andie Stevenson--until Joe's passions shift to his Paris contact, Danielle. Just when the feds leak ""Billy's"" (Joe's) address, jealous Andie decides to teach the philanderer a lesson. Zettler keeps readers guessing as the N.Y. court date arrives, and the characters' true colors don't show until the finale at JFK airport. Zettler has a comic bite and a breezy style with characters and coincidences, with enough hard-edged tension for hard-core thriller fans. (Dec.)