The Racquet

What happens when a slightly naive, 22-year-old, Mexican-born Uruguayan tennis pro (ranked 224th in the world) makes his first passage through the United States? Basically, one misadventure after another. Nothing, however, can dim narrator Cesar-Agosto Villasenor's spirits as he travels down the West Coast en route to his sister's wedding in Ensenada, Mexico. Everyone Agosto meets has a scam: and, naturally, he becomes involved in each of them--but a comic spirit prevails as Agosto's blend of innocence and optimism enables him to stay one jump ahead of disaster. Hitchcock ( Another Shore ) maintains a carnival atmosphere with a parade of characters and episodes, including a tax attorney who is a powerful warlock and the spirit of a 150-year-old Modoc Indian chief. Things are wrapped up a little too quickly at the end, when a somewhat wiser Agosto assures the reader the next time he visits the U.S., he will be more cautious. But then, he has yet to experience the East Coast. (May)