Patterns

This disappointing collection by the author of Mindbenders contains 13 stories dating from 1982 to the present, plus a new piece, ``The Power and the Passion.'' The latter is one of her more powerful stories; it deals with a psychopathic killer more inhuman than the vampires he is hired to destroy. As with most of Cadigan's work, its effect depends on shock; here and in other places she undercuts the surprise with otherwise uninformative, excessively breezy prefaces to the stories. The tales range from science fiction to horror to mood-piece, although the mood is almost always dark. Cadigan plays on our expectations: an apparently rosy marriage can encompass electronic slavery; a scared little boy terrorizes children as a adult; and a Good Samaritan fronts for an alien whose non-human desires redefine the term rape. Her reliance on twists is formulaic. The collection includes ``Angel,'' nominated for Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy awards. (Oct.)