The Pack

Manhattan receives a lustrous varnish of black, black humor in this sly urban fantasy thriller from crime author Starr (Panic Attack). When ad man Simon Burns suddenly gets the axe, his wife, Alison, looks on the bright side. Now Simon can become the perfect stay-at-home dad for their three-year-old son. Exploring playground options outside his Upper West Side neighborhood, Simon meets dads Charlie, Ramon, and the strangely sinister Michael, and their toddler sons in downtown Battery Park. Handsome Michael, with his Germanic accent and gothic HQ in a rundown Brooklyn brewery, is without doubt the leader of the pack—a pack with which Simon soon starts running to his peril. The quirky Alison has a wonderful way of suggesting one thing to Simon then going back on the idea, time after time. Meanwhile, desperate single Olivia Becker gets more than she bargained for after picking up Michael in a midtown bar. Starr once again shows a real gift for satiric humor and capturing the contemporary New York scene. (June)