The Unforgiving Minutes

Pulver's new thriller slips a bit below the standard set in her notable Murder at the War, which introduced Sgt. Peter (""Obie'') Brichter of the Charter, Ill., police. There is plenty of action here, but it's mostly synthetic, relying on improbable coincidences linked to Obie's campaign against the town's flagrant drug traffic. Infiltrating Tretower, the fortified ranch of former Chicago mosbster Nick Tellios, Obie offers to work as an informer for the suspected cocaine broker. The imposter meets Tellios's niece Katherine (``Kori'') Price, his ward for 14 years since her parents were murdered when she was six. Falling in love with beautiful Kori, Obie becomes more determined to fight Tellios and his henchmen, creating attenuated side plots whose outcomes are practically telegraphed. When Kori is in dire danger, the super cop happens to accidentally arrive in time to save her. Similar incidents ensue, testing Obie during his crusade against the ``unindicted co-conspirators'' amongst Charter's prominent citizens, even those in the police department. (May)