Blind Side

Photojournalist Geoffrey Barnett turns down an assignment in Beirut but ends up in equal danger as this increasingly riveting thriller unfolds. After an alluring stranger asks him to photograph her, Geoff wonders if the woman, model Kim Yates, might help him surmount his phobic block: for some time he has been unable to photograph faces. Kim takes him far beyond his inhibition, however, and so, when she vanishes and her roommate is murdered, Geoff calls on his journalistic skills as he sleuths for clues to her whereabouts. At the same time, he starts receiving vicious threats and, as what seems to be a series of byzantine plots is unleashed around him, he begins to worry about what he hasn't seen on his ``blind side.'' The plot is so strong that at times it inches ahead of Geoff's persona--but never ahead of Kim's. Her spellbinding wiles make it plausible that Geoff ignore his doubts about her, with the result that he's tested as never before in his life. As psychological dramas go, this one's in the top tier. In addition, Bayer ( Switch ; Pattern Crimes ) has furnished the intriguing photographs integral to the text. (June)