On the Edge

Legal investigator Frank August possesses the standard attributes of a gumshoe hero. Hard-drinking, self-destructive yet attractive to women, he is ambivalent about his investigative work for lawyers. He has just failed the bar exam, moreover, and with his investigative business in dire need of cash, he finds that his life is miles away from what he'd once hoped. As his father lay dying, the old man had urged Frank to practice law to ""help the underdog."" He had asked Frank not to turn his back on the ideals of Catholicism, either: ""Later, they had all come to seem one thing to Frank, practicing law, Catholicism, believing in yourself, something about his father in that hospital bed."" So there's no way Frank can refuse an offer from lawyer Aram Melikian to gather information on Melikian's client, reported drug dealer Ray Buchanan, even though Ray and Frank are friends. At the same time, Frank's wife, Karen, is after him to clean up his act--too many blackouts and binges have started to wear her patience. But Frank's attempts to clear Ray's case conflict with his attempts to win Karen's favor, and he finds the investigative lifestyle sucking him back into a pattern of drinking and philandering. Poverman (Skin) seeks to create a type of morality play here, as Frank's loyalty to Ray plays against Ray's criminal behavior, and Frank and Karen's desire for a better life must contend with Frank's addictions. Despite Poverman's usual fine writing, however, including a vivid evocation of San Francisco's seamy side, little here feels fresh. Even the plot grows repetitious, with the same information cropping up again and again. Poverman is a first-rate stylist, but this genre doesn't look to be his forte. (May)