Rock Me

This first novel by journalist Clements ( Other Observations ) has all the trendy elements for commercial success save one: writing that elicits any feeling in the reader. The plot features a burned-out rock star named Casey, but she is never developed sufficiently, and it's hard to care about the fate of such an irritating narrator. Ostensibly the story of an obsessive love, the novel seems the result of a knowing journalist's decision to write fiction about the hard-living denizens of the high-speed world of rock. Overwhelmed by life, Casey has fled to Maui in order to find tranquility, cut down on her drinking and confront her ex-loveran important piece of unfinished business from the past. Michael, a former member of her rock band (called ``The Ex-Lovers''), has created a new, cozy domestic life, but Casey's visit dredges up the past for him. Will they or won't they? What about his earnest and pregnant wife? As the narrative shifts between the first and third persons, Clements propels the story through a series of episodic chunks. The fragmented structure is not inappropriate to the equally fragmented thinking represented here. With self-obsessed and immature characters and writing that is only competent, readers will be not so much rocked as lulled. (Jan.)