Current Affairs

After the bestselling Hot Flashes , Raskin's new novel suffers from a split personality. On one level it is a story of sibling rivalry between Natalie Myers, a Washington, D.C., unemployed social worker (the shelter for homeless women where she worked has been closed), and her younger sister, Shay Karavan, famous reporter and bed partner of many, including Natalie's husband. Both resentful of her role as Shay's doormat and powerless to change their relationship, narrator Natalie bitches and wisecracks in a wry, contemporary voice that compels attention. Unfortunately, Raskin complicates the plot with a cops and drug-lords scenario involving Shay's latest catch, billionaire Mickey Teardash, and sexy police lieutenant Bo Culver. Shay has stolen classified government documents about Fawn Hall's coke dependency, information which, when leaked, is expected to dent the international drug trade. Readers will wonder why, for three-quarters of the book, no one thinks to copy the documents. Raskin writes saucy, irreverent dialogue, and her wit is generally bracing, but this potentially strong story disappoints as it deteriorates into a weak melodrama about modern mores. (Aug.)