Through a Lens Darkly

Cohen's ( Disappearances ) bracing, expertly crafted new thriller probes the amoral world of exploitation films. Its protagonist is Chris Thomas, an ambitious film school graduate employed by Al Dorsey. To Al, producer of the Raw Death movie series, real people's deaths are the ultimate cinematic subject matter. ``Give me the perfect death,'' he orders Chris's colleague Matt Johnson as this novel begins, and Matt, frustrated and strung out on coke, obliges by filming his own suicide. Reviewing the gruesome footage, Chris is struck by the look of terror on Matt's face--it reminds him of another sequence which he recently shot in the Midwest and which has accidentally documented a young girl's death. His curiosity piqued, Chris begins delving into the circumstances surrounding the girl's demise and becomes privy to the dynamics of the perverse relationship between the dead girl's boyfriend and his abusive father. The suspense accelerates as Chris comes face-to-face with a possible serial killer--and realizes that his own life is on the line. (June)