Smokeout

In this edgy, ripped-from-the-headlines novel, there's a crucial vote on Big Tobacco coming up in the Florida legislature, and the outcome will decide whether or not tobacco companies can be legally sued for damages. At the center of this legislative hurricane is State Senator Dolly Nichols, whose principled stand on individual rights has always prompted a pro-tobacco voting record. But that's not good enough for Bartholomew Simons, president and CEO of Roper-Joyner Holdings (RJH), who wants to make sure that his tobacco company in particular comes out the winner. He also needs to save his own buttDthere's an incriminating memo circulating with his name on it, and he wants it destroyed. The search for the memo is played out against an orgy of arm-twisting, backstabbing, blackmailing and backroom lobbying, involving a cast of media hustlers, a female lobbyist with Playboy pictures in her past and libidinous legislators. A baker's dozen of subplots converge in a wild and woolly finale that teeters on the edge of farce. But thanks to Date's animated characters, who are quirky without being cartoonish, and impeccable narrative timing, the fast-moving plot never veers out of control. (Nov.)