Palm Springs

Riches abound as Palm Springs grows from a backward oasis in 1912 at this derivative novel's opening to an ultra-chic playground in 1987 at its close. But the events could take place anywhere the wealthy, idle and depraved gather, and money does not motivate the book's chief protagonists, the McKinntocks. To them as well as to their descendants, sex is like the flash flood that occurs here early on--unruly, irresistible and almost wholly destructive. Except in the case of her heroine, Ginger McKinntock, Mascott ( Love at Noon ) seems unable to decide what to do when happiness threatens to claim her randy couples, so she simply kills off one or both of the partners. After a while, the sexual exploits degenerate into a meaningless competition among the characters, resulting in a read that is as tawdry as it is tedious. (Feb.)