Rainbow Drive

Somewhere inside this sprawling 700-page novel, there is a solid police procedural trying to break out. Thorp, best known for The Detective, has written a desultory story about the fallout from an apparent drug murder in Los Angeles that ultimately points to corruption at the top of the L.A.P.D., corruption that becomes an obsession for homicide detective Mike Gallagher when his longtime partner is murdered. With the murder, the novel finally begins to move forward with some energy and passion, but this comes very late in the game. Although Gallagher, a tough guy with a soft heartprototype of the new herois a strong character, Thorp has filled the book with many less-memorable actors, especially an endless array of indistinguishable villains. There is a lot of good action writing as well as some interesting police work going on here, but these tend to get buried in Thorp's massive, complex scheme. 90,000 first printing; BOMC Alternate. (October 22)