cover image Law of Revenge

Law of Revenge

Theresa Collins. Ivy Books, $5.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-8041-1684-8

This first thriller takes on incest, gang rape and class warfare--for starters. Yet despite the occasional opportune phrase, the protagonist, Alma Mae Bashears, isn't persuasive either as a yuppie lawyer in San Francisco or as Appalachian white trash out for revenge. Having fled Contrary, Ky., after a brutal rape, Alma is going back to protect her younger brother Vernon from her childhood nemesis and settle a few old scores. There is some real feeling--Alma's yearning for roots and for the warm assurance of early childhood--but for the most part the characters are no more than cardboard foils for Alma's fury. (July)