A Deniable Man

Stein, an author ( The Magician ) and a publisher (Stein & Day), knows how to grab and keep a reader's attention, but here his craft, characters and plot veer from the arch to the unbelievable. The main story involves the widow and grown daughter of an assassinated U.S. general who are threatened in Manhattan by terrorists. Hired to pro tect Heather Whitcomb and rising lawyer Susan Whitcomb is the title's ``deniable'' hero, ``David Smith,'' a top-secret anti-terrorist. Almost as soon as David returns to Italy, Susan is abducted, and David, a victim of her fatal attraction, must return to the States to save her. Tucked into this central tale is a lawsuit that Susan is handling. (The trial, involving an un ethical music distributor preying on a small record company, may reflect Stein's own feelings about his much-publicized bout with a book distributor.) The narrative voice, which jumps around among 10 different characters, is busy and cliche-ridden (David's Jewish boss keeps calling him ``boychick''). But the coups de grace are Susan's unexplained allure (she seems a ditzy, opportunistic yuppie rather than a femme fatale) and a very silly ending. (Apr.)