The Last Man Standing

Newspaperman Stuart Reed is as immature, arrogant and sexist a hero as Sammy Glick, but Wright ( The Last Frame ) doesn't inspire readers to care about what makes Stuart run. As a reporter on a small New Jersey daily, Stuart breaks all the rules in attempts to land a job on the New York Times . Trying to solve the murder of a girl who has been suffocated and then gutted like a deer, he gets too chummy with a detective, tries a spot of burglary, fabricates quotes, steals evidence and is finally fired when his paper faces a libel charge. A year later, as Stuart works as obit editor on a small paper in rural New York State, a girl he picks up in a supermarket is stabbed after she leaves him. Convinced he's being framed for the first murder, Stuart sets out to track down and kill the man he suspects of the crime. The novel ends with a burst of action and a surprise twist, but readers are likely to be repelled by Stuart and may not stay the course. (Sept.)