Versions of the Truth: 2a Novel

Little rings true in this second outing for Joshua Rabb, a Bureau of Indian Affairs lawyer in Arizona shortly after WW II. Introduced in The Dividing Line , Rabb here is responsible for awarding a multimillion dollar contract for the construction of a sewer system to help eliminate a deadly cholera outbreak on the Papago Indian reservation he oversees. The somewhat taciturn Rabb, who lost an arm and part of a foot in the Battle of the Bulge, attracts the lustful interest of many young women, especially the niece of one of two rivals for the contract. Casual attitudes about sex, and also about crime and violence, seem a bit anachronistic. Rabb's bitter soliloquy addressed to God is similarly filled with false notes, and his ambiguity over defending an amoral rapist and murderer fail to add much credibility to this abruptly ended tale. ( Jan.)