The Habit of Fear

Veteran crime-fiction author Davis's newest is a multifaceted novel that addresses timely issues. Young Julie Hayes, gossip columnist for a New York newspaper, is suddenly sued for divorce by her husband, pedantic gourmet columnist Geoffrey Hayes. Stunned, she walks from their apartment through the streets of Manhattan and is lured by the feigned cries of a child to a trailer in an empty lot, where she is raped and sodomized by a pair of masked men. To recover her equilibrium, Julie takes a leave from the paper and departs for Ireland, in the hope of finally finding her father, whom she has never known. There she discovers new family and friends: sweet-tempered playwright Seamus McNally, brilliant artist Edna O'Shea, her father's new wife and assumed widow. Julie later learns of Edna's political associations and links to Irish terrorism. In the meantime, her rapists havecoincidentallysurfaced in Ireland, and the strands of the plot come together. No simple mystery, this novel offers violence, romance, intrigue and a dash of politics, all contributing to a tale chockful of action that leads to a heartening, if bittersweet, conclusion. (November)