Sounding Drum

The chance discovery of a 400-year-old land grant by a colonial New York governor that ceded a chunk of Manhattan Island to the local Canarsee Indian tribes sparks the roller coaster plot of western writer Martin's new thriller. Steve (""Sounding"") Drum is a Montana Salish Indian turned savvy Wall Street lawyer to whom archeologist Paula Fox secretly gives the document she has unearthed. When analysis proves the deed authentic, Drum finds the Canarsee heirs among the Schomac, a small landless tribe near the Finger Lakes area of New York State. Pooling the resources of local casino-owning tribes and calling for help from the Mafioso benefactor who put him through law school, Drum launches a shrewd plan to transform part of Rockefeller Center into the Schomac reservation. Drum's scheme is complicated by his unsanctioned romance with the Don's daughter, and by a mystery stalker intent on killing him. He's also distracted by his obsession to revenge his own father's murder. The outlandish premise and the plot's compelling twists and turns more than compensate for sappy dialogue in the romantic episodes, an extraneous side plot and a glut of ethnic similes. Readers will sympathize with the Native American underdogs all the way to the surprise ending. Author tour. (June) FYI: Martin will tour with his wife, romance novelist Kat Martin.