THE DRUPERMAN TAPES

Terrorist-level blackmail threatens the Las Vegas Casino Association in first-time novelist Goodger's slow-to-boil crime thriller. Videotapes of short clips of disasters taken from TV and movies mysteriously appear in the offices of the association's head, Emmett "Droopy" Druperman, a hard-nosed negotiator who refuses to make the payoff demanded by the blackmailers. Instead, he alerts his security chief, Steve Forrester, as each new threat comes in. Despite the increasingly high stakes—poisoning, fire, an Oklahoma City–style bomb—as Druperman and Forrester work desperately to keep the gaming tables open and the public in the dark, the plot seldom gains true momentum. The budding love affair between Forrester and pit supervisor Lucy Baker does nothing for the suspense because of a lack of chemistry. On the other hand, gambling fans will relish the behind-the-scenes look at Vegas—the moment when the obnoxious, aging Sinatra-esque singer Tony Francisco steps unwittingly into danger is a nice commentary on the thrill of betting and luck playing out—and the credible if unspectacular investigative search for the blackmailers builds to a solid action-movie finale. Agent, Jessica Kaye. (Nov. 19)