Chinatown Angel

A plausible, fast-moving plot propels Roman's refreshing debut, set in present-day New York City. Chico Santana, an engaging, wisecracking PI, who's just beginning to pull himself together after his wife, Ramona, threw him out, takes on a routine case to track down a teenage girl that turns out to be anything but. Suspicious of the men who retain him, childhood friend Albert Garcia and B-movie actor-producer Kirk Atlas, Santana hooks up with their attractive servant, Pilar Menendez, only to see her pushed off the roof of her Astoria apartment building shortly after he leaves her. Santana's report of this crime leads to his abduction by Atlas's creepy father, a wealthy pervert reminiscent of Chinatown 's Noah Cross. Roman has a nice satirical touch (e.g., Ramona once dragged Santana to “a mixed media thing based on the music in the movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three ”). Fans of Reed Farrel Coleman's Moe Prager will find a lot to like. (Mar.)