Ambrose (Superstition; The Man Who Turned into Himself) weaves a tale of duplicitous doppelgängers in this supernatural thriller. George is a quiet academic writing pseudoscience books for fun, supported by his rich, gallery-hopping wife, Sara. But his father's death triggers an avalanche of coincidental events—from the appearance of old photographs of him with people he doesn't remember to an encounter with his own double, Larry, a crook on the run who has no qualms setting "jerk-off George" up for the hit men Larry is evading. Of course Larry, after assuming George's identity and faking amnesia, could have no idea that the female detective he's been sleeping with in exchange for information on "himself" would also have had an affair with rising lawyer-turned-politician Steve, who's having an affair with Sara. And no one, including the reader—who by now will be wondering why the author has further complicated his narrative with references to Jung, Koestler and the I Ching—could foresee the massive metaphysical conspiracy Larry and George are literally yanked into. It simultaneously explains their interrelated problems while confronting them both with an altogether more dangerous one. Ambrose clearly enjoys drawing twisty plots from inexplicable events, and he throws in just enough scientific explorations of synchronicity to justify the otherwise mystical explanations with which readers must content themselves. There is a surprisingly (or perhaps coincidentally) predictable ending to this unpredictable thriller, which undermines some of its punch, though not its author's cleverness. National advertising. (Feb. 12)
