Liberty Square

The latest appearance of Forrest's likable heroine, lesbian LAPD detective Kate Delafield, is earnest but unconvincing. Former Marine Kate and her lover, Aimee, are in Washington, D.C., for Kate's Vietnam reunion. Most of the wartime gang are there, some thriving, some still bitter, but one much-loved character is absent, an apparent MIA, a man that Kate misses more that most. Is there a secret behind Cap's disappearance long ago? A volley of bullets peppers Kate and Aimee's hotel room within hours of their arrival, and then Allan, another vet, is murdered, leaving a hint that Cap was involved. Yet Allan never met Cap overseas. Why is he dead now? Long stretches of Vietnam vet-talk, angled mainly towards the personal difficulties faced by homosexual service men and women, and frequent, distracting shifts in point of view (between Kate's and Aimee's) and the never fully answered question of why the killer shows up at the the reunion seriously diminish the impact of this story from the author of the considerably superior Murder at the Nightwood Bar. (Sept.)