cover image Scatterpath

Scatterpath

Maralys Wills. Lyford Books, $19.95 (263pp) ISBN 978-0-89141-487-2

Sadly lacking in tension and credibility, Wills's debut technothriller is set in the contemporary U.S., where disasters and near-misses plague the history of a new plane. Are the problems due to pilot error, material flaws--or something more sinister? Alan Wilcox, a crack investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, suspects sabotage. He uncovers two possible suspects: the vice-president of an aircraft manufacturer on the brink of bankruptcy, and a psychotic computer genius. Working madly to identify the saboteur, Wilcox must also deal with skeptical superiors, a son involved with drugs and a wife resentful of his devotion to his career. Wills's descriptions of crash-investigation procedures are informative. But the characters are two-dimensional, the corporate and bureaucratic backgrounds vital to the story are neither clear nor convincing, and the plot never rises above the level of melodrama informed by pop-psychology. The novel's domestic scenes are more compelling than Wilcox's search for the villain--a fatal flaw in a book that purports to be an adventure. ( May )