Adversary

In Rhodes's novel Next, After Lucifer , the 14th century scourge, Knight Templar and servant-of-evil Guilhem de Courdeval, escaped his centuries-long magical imprisonment to join the 1980s. Now calling himself Guy-Luc Valcourt, he is ensconced near San Francisco, with Alysse, a dead French girl, as his maid. While Melusine and Roger Devarre seek rest for Alysse's spirit and an end to Courdeval's crimes, the sorcerer lures into his power a group of venal and insecure characters, including petty embezzler Spencer Epps, rich, vengeful Charity Haverill and idealistic lawyer and divorced mother Nicole Patrick. All Nicole wants is to unlock the heart of her neighbor, Vietnam vet Jesse Treves, but the price is something she doesn't reckon with. Rhodes writes smoothly and cannily about his characters' weaknesses , but Courdeval, all rhetoric and showmanship, never convinces. (Dec.)