Truck Dance

When she finds out her husband Vernon has emptied their bank account and is fooling around with the local librarian, 45-year-old Wilma Hemshoff of East Texas hits the roadas a truck driver. Escape looks possible from the cab of the 18-wheel rig she's driving, even though she's not exactly traveling light. Since Wilma has a soft spot for refugees like herself, she picks up Oralee, a smart-mouthed, teenage hooker toting a baby girl, and then starts making northern runs with a load of illegal aliens tucked alongside her legitimate freight of household goods. Hershey keeps the first half of her novel rolling along with sharp humor, raunchy locales and original characters. But this high gear starts grinding down to a simplistic low after Wilma hooks up with the Sanctuary movement and takes a lover who works for Immigration, deporting the very strays she is trying to save. Despite its wobbly second half, however, this is a promising debut. (Feb.)