AN INVISIBLE WOMAN

This entertaining if routine thriller from newcomer Strieber pits a Fifth Avenue matron against a shattering conspiracy that blurs the line between friend and foe. Upper-crust New Yorker Kealy Ryerson, freshly coifed, nipped and tucked, receives an urgent call from her lawyer husband to grab the kids and run. Overnight, all she has known and loved has become sinister. As Ryerson's comfortable world crashes around her, she must find out who sabotaged her high-powered mate, falsified mob connections and froze her funds. In a dangerous encounter with her police chief ex-husband, who looks right past her, Kealy discovers that without the glitter and makeup that's her usual uniform, a middle-aged woman can simply disappear. Kealy's teenage children, torn from their insulated private schools, join their mother and hopscotch subways to find sanctuary on the wrong side of the tracks. A shaky friendship reaches across class lines as the family of her daughter's school chum joins forces with them to cheat death and pursue justice. A few of the characters defy stereotype, including mob boss Sal Bonacori and his wiseguy-wannabe son, as well as Ryerson herself, though she disappointingly reverts to type in the end. Agent, Russell Galen. (Nov. 3)

Forecast: Since Strieber is the wife of bestselling author Whitley Strieber, and Peter Straub provides a blurb, expect more than usual attention for this debut thriller.