Tek Secret

The fifth entry in Star Trek veteran Shatner's science fiction detective series ( TekLab ; Tek Vengeance ) features all the elements that have made the other episodes so successful and so eminently forgettable: cardboard characters, an unlikely, action-heavy plot and futuristic trappings as tired as an old boot. Jake Cardigan and his goofy sidekick/partner Sid Gomez are investigating the disappearance of Alicia Bower, heiress to the Mechanix International robotics fortune. Her family believes she is off on another of her promiscuous adventures, but her current boyfriend, Barry Zangerly, remains convinced her absence is more sinister and hires Cardigan and Gomez to find out. Of course, the villains make their presence known, roughing up Zangerly and trying to kill Cardigan. And of course Cardigan and Gomez sidestep all major threats and get to the heart of the conspiracy, which features such twists as an android duplicate of Alicia Bower, a sadistic brain surgeon and such bits of predictable dialogue as, ``The odds are very much against our nearly getting killed every time we investigate something together.'' Readers who have found something enjoyable in previous Jake Cardigan adventures will likely find it here as well. (Nov.)