Stolen Blessings

This relatively short paperback original by the wildly successful Sanders ( Timothy's Game ) is candy-bar reading--a treat whose pleasures are short-lived and fast-fading. Marilyn Taylor, the ``Most Beautiful Woman in the World,'' a Hollywood superstar and queen of her own bustling corporation, donates her ova to her infertile best friend and the friend's husband, then has her own fallopian tubes tied. A naive employee ``kidnaps'' the eggs from a New York fertility laboratory, fomenting unprecedented publicity for Marilyn and luring legions of far more competent crooks. New York's finest send in Jeffrey McBryde, whose police skills are equalled only by his attractions for Marilyn. Meanwhile, the booty is stolen by a series of increasingly dangerous thieves; the CIA is certain the eggs are in the Middle East and a retired priest hatches a plan whereby the Pope will negotiate their safe return. An enthusiastic pace and frequent wit compensate for the predictability of the plot and characters who are no less flat than we have come to expect from Sanders. (Dec.)