EDDIE'S WORLD

Eddie Senta's New York City, the focus of this flawed first novel by off-off-Broadway playwright Stella, is a harsh and unforgiving place. Eddie's a book runner with mob connections and his own skewed version of a midlife crisis. His second wife's burning to have a baby before she gets too old, running book no longer satisfies, his teenage son by his first wife is difficult for Eddie to connect with, and his legit occupation as a part-time word processor isn't panning out too well either. Eddie's not sure what direction his life is going to take, but he has plans for an easy score, as well as to pass on his modestly successful book to friend Tommy Gaetani. The simple burglary Eddie tries to pull off with inside help from a woman with a grudge to settle lands him and Tommy in the middle of a murderous mess. Eddie's mark is a crooked gem dealer, but the problem is, Eddie's not the only one to have targeted the dealer. Stella throws in Russian mobsters, ex-cons, federal agents, Mafia figures, local cops and gangbangers, all of whom convulse Eddie's world. Stella handles the complexities of his plot nicely, but none of his characters, including Eddie, are sympathetic enough to engage the reader. In addition, he lacks the gift for dialogue that allows a pro like Elmore Leonard to carry off similar capers. Nor does he have the sharp-edged humor of a Donald Westlake. An overreliance on the f-word and variants thereof, however realistic coming out of the mouths of Stella's lowlifes, becomes numbingly off-putting after a while. Agent, Bob Diforio.(Dec. 1)