Casting the First Stone

There are few surprises in the insubstantial plot of Roby's third novel (after Here and Now), a story of a marriage that, obviously doomed from the book's opening pages, drags on through repetitive and melodramatic scenes. When she married him eight years ago, Tanya Black thought that Curtis would be a dedicated evangelist preacher, but the power of his current position as pastor of a prominent African-American Baptist church in Chicago has turned his head, and their ""model marriage had long since turned into something very ugly and dreadfully different."" Curtis flaunts his expensive wardrobe and lifestyle, and he continually begs his congregation for more money. He's having an affair with the deacon's wife, lies outrageously, neglects his daughter and eventually grows physically abusive. Although most of his misbehavior is described in chapter one and grows more flagrant as the book progresses, Tanya dithers through the entire novel deliberating whether she should file for divorce. Roby strives for an ironic twist in making Tanya a counselor for battered women, but this only makes her seem more duped and self-destructive. Because the pointlessness of this marriage seems so clear, there isn't much of a story aside from the stock characters who contribute to the tawdry drama: Alicia, the Blacks' sensitive, six-year-old daughter; Tanya's supportive best friend, Nicole; and James, the perfect man whom Tanya meets. While the book aims to inspire and send a strong Christian message, calling for women to take charge of their lives, the narrative is written in such clich d prose that it cannot effectively address the serious issues of marital strife and domestic violence. 22-city author tour. (Jan.)