cover image Caribe

Caribe

J. R. Sprechman. Dutton Books, $17.95 (280pp) ISBN 978-0-525-24320-5

Spreachman's inflated prose doesn't help his thriller, apparently meant to be an allegory on redemption. Robert Dempsey, a Manhattan detective, has ""the marks of the stigmata'' sic, and symbolizes a modern savior of humankind. On a dictator-oppressed Caribbean island, a dwarf, Latour, longs for relief from the curse dooming him to eternal life. Dempsey arrives on the island, following Smithy, a mercenary bringing arms to the dictator, and Smithy's sister Catherine. Although she is incestuously involved with her brother, she has also been the detective's lover. The reader witnesses events from the viewpoint of Latour, who hopes that Dempsey has been sent to replace him as a catalyst in human affairs. Simultaneously with a battle between the dictator's army and attacking rebels, the policeman's fight against Smithy adds to the ``awesome blood-letting.'' Catherine becomes a victim of the adversaries but her ultimate fate isn't revealed until the end of the story, with supernatural elements that unfortunately don't work. The result is something between science-fiction and comic-book fare. January 13