Deceptions

Though less experimental than his debut thriller, Impulse (1993), which featured three narrative voices, Weaver's second novel is every bit as gripping, a fast-paced, brutal and kinky tale that mixes crime and political intrigue with aplomb. Rising Manhattan artist Gianni Garetsky, 38, is drawn back into the American and Sicilian underworld of his youth when he's strong-armed by two men who claim to be FBI agents but who begin to torture him to reveal the whereabouts of his boyhood pal, Vittorio Battaglia, a minor mobster whom Gianni hasn't seen in 20 years and has presumed dead. Killing his two accosters, Gianni, who's soon joined by Vittorio's ex-lover, the beautiful and equally dangerous Mary Yung, moves between Europe and the States as his hunt for Vittorio and his race to save his own skin quickly involves a small child and other innocent victims, a world-class contract assassin and possibly the balances of political power in the U.S. and the world. Enhanced by strong, sinewy writing, numerous plot twists and a potent melding of sex and violence, this expertly wrought novel proves that Weaver knows what most thriller fans want--and can deliver it in spades. Audio rights to Time Warner AudioBooks; major ad/ promo. (Mar.)