The Moment Between

Washington, D.C., neurologist Hackett Metzger, the hero of Frank’s pedestrian first novel, is still in mourning four years after the death of his beloved wife, Jean. His loneliness makes him vulnerable to Sarah Filicidees, the predatory mother of one of his teenage patients. Undercutting the suspense is a prologue that depicts Sarah murdering her husband, James, in order to collect on his life insurance, leaving no doubt about the true nature of her feelings toward Hackett. How James feels about being dead telegraphs the book’s central concern with the issue of life after death. Sarah’s evil machinations, which involve seducing Hackett and becoming romantically involved with him, dominate the plot. As a result, Hackett’s evolution from a skeptic dismissive of his chief resident’s interest in conducting a study of near-death experiences to a believer gets short shrift. What is billed as science thriller in the tradition of Michael Crichton falls well short of that mark. Readers will have a tough time suspending disbelief. (Nov.)