Flamingo

Implausible and radically different from his previous Casco Deception , Reiss's new novel introduces Raleigh Fixx, author of popular true-crime books, who deserts Manhattan for a gentler island. With his lover, Diane, Raleigh plans a book about preserving a bird sanctuary off Key Rey, Fla. But Raleigh meets Abel Quade, who aims to turn the sanctuary into a swank resort, and his fierce opponent Jay Salinger. When Salinger is killed, these contacts drag the former New Yorker into violence. Arrested for the murder, Raleigh is released but carefully watched by Detective Julius Sezar (a characteristic pun) and immersed in events set in motion by the wily Quade. The killings go on; Raleigh and Diane are at risk as guests of Quade aboard his sumptuous yacht. Included in the heavy-duty plot are murders meant to avenge contraction of AIDS, drug deals, a mad professor's obsession with diving for sunken treasure from 16th-century Spanish galleons, and government corruption. Swamped in such structural pyrotechnics, the mystery lacks a single likable character. Diane and Raleigh are cut-rate heroes, and Reiss's denouement is questionable, at best. (Jan.)