The Third Illusion

Former CIA agent David Baxter, who's hiding out in the San Bernardino Mountains, surfaces to attend the funeral of a fellow spook who was gunned down in random violence at a supermarket. Bolting right after the service, Baxter gets a summons from a man in the parking lot to meet one of the world's wealthiest men, Richard Steel. Steel wants Baxter to find his missing daughter, Catherine, so that he can run for high political office without an excess of media attention on the girl's disappearance. Baxter reluctantly accepts the assignment and rediscovers the joy of action as he checks out Catherine's friends in Maui, Tampa and Toronto and dodges his old enemies, a group of Uzi-toting Palestinian terrorists whose leader he killed. He tracks down Catherine much too quickly in Bermuda, and by then it's obvious who the real bad guy is and that he wants Baxter to take a fall. Along the way, Baxter beds a curvaceous psychic, Candice Galvin, who offers tips on seances, adding a New Age twist to Arnston's ( Trade-Off ) improbable but fast-paced formula novel. (Mar.)