Rough Justice

Gross's ( A Fine Line ) latest, with its sharp characterization and swift prose, places the author firmly among the best crime novelists today. Unlike some genre novels in which chapters are joined together like so many train cars, in this mystery thriller, the chapters segue into one another organically, as an inevitable result of action or psychological motivation. Mafia man Tommy Day is the epitome of a chilling villain with his head-turning good looks, his brilliant street sense, his total disregard for life and his membership in an elite New York police unit, where he can best serve his don. Killing an assistant U.S. attorney whom he's supposed to be guarding, Day, who shoots cats for practice, thinks he's covered all bases. But he's not prepared for detective Jack Mann, whose beloved wife is dying of cancer, and Bonnie Hudson, a TV weather announcer aspiring to be a reporter. Mann and Hudson don't buy the circumstantial evidence that implicates a homeless man, and they have their own suspicions concerning handsome Day. The only thing amiss in this splendidly written entertainment is the unintriguing title. (Feb.)