cover image Forever Beat

Forever Beat

John Cline. Dutton Books, $19.95 (362pp) ISBN 978-0-525-24855-2

New York filmwriter Luke Byman, unsuccessful and 30ish, is the breathless narrator and hero of this stew of a thriller that omits the kitchen sink but not much else. While helping a neighbor in emergency childbirth, Luke is almost killed in a savage shooting that leaves the midwife and her young brother dead. The killer takes the baby and the mother gives chase, leading the reader into a bicoastal tale that includes a Hollywood star running a baby-selling racket; Catholic nuns selling drug-addicted infants; the IRA; chainsaw massacres, patricide and matricide; and some lesbianism. A slapdash explanation of the feverish action leaves the daunting possibility that a sequel will return Luke to the printed page as a private eye. If nuns are selling babies, then it makes sense that gunmen in habits guard the convent. Apparently Cline is serious. (May)