Making It

Though this engaging story about a parolee trying hard to go straight has many aspects of a suspense novel, it is so beguiling and realistic that narrow classification would be unfair. Jeremy Wurm gets a job at UPS and soon meets Berenice McSweeney, head cashier at the local Safeways market. She is 25 and quiescent after a short, bad marriage; he is four years older, eager for a relationship after nearly a decade in jail. These are two people ready for the real thing; a wonderfully realized love affair blooms between them, creating suspense for the reader both hopeful and afraid of its outcome. More tension is provided by Jeremy's parole officer, Loomis Perkins, who demands that Jeremy submit to his kinky sexual needs. Jeremy feels trapped, sees no way out short of returning to jail. He tries to solve this problem in the way he knows best--resorting to crime--and this leads to a frightening and touching climax. Lange ( Vandenberg ) does not let mechanical plot elements or conventional moralizing dominate: humdrum, prosaic life steps in and resolves Jeremy and Berenice's traumatic experiences in an infinitely more interesting and resourceful way. (Aug.)