Raw Data

Despite the telegraphed identity of at least one culprit, occasional plot twists and wonderfully witty writing make Chapman's first hardcover novel a read-at-one-sitting delight. Julie Blake is a very proper corporate v-p at a computer firm, where she manages the work of 30 programmers on the highly confidential and prestigious Project 6. After the corpse of one of her employees is found ``crammed in among the wiring'' of a computer nicknamed Larry, another murder follows; soon it is discovered that the secrets of Project 6 have been leaked to the Soviets. Eager to protect her job and the project to which she has devoted the last five years, Blake teams up with irrepressible Vic Paoli, an investigator for the National Security Agency. Together they trace information that will lead them to the killer--unless he gets to them first. While the plot is sometimes thin, the engaging characters and their fast-paced dialogue offer reason aplenty to forge ahead. (June)