The Second Son

In filmmaker Weiss’s overstuffed and underwhelming first novel, two L.A.-based entrepreneurs, twin brothers Ethan and Jack Stone, have devised a mobile app they call Stalker. “We’re going to transform the way people stalk. We’re going to be huge,” crows Ethan. Jack doesn’t share his brother’s enthusiasm and resigns. Meanwhile, the company’s anonymous financial backer pushes Ethan to release Stalker’s revolutionary facial recognition software, despite programming glitches. When Ethan returns home to look for solace from his stunning live-in girlfriend, Brooke Shaw, she’s gone, having left him only a cryptic note. Suspecting Brooke ran off with Jack, Ethan sets out to use his new software to track her down, telling himself he’s doing it just to make sure that she’s safe. He soon determines that the woman he has known as Brooke Shaw doesn’t exist. Ensuing complications include mistaken identities, identity theft, murder, kidnapping, beatings, and everyone spying electronically on everyone else. In the rushed and muddled finale, Weiss scrambles to provide a happy ending for all and sundry. Even non-computer-geeks will find this story unconvincing. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services. (Aug.)