THIEF OF WORDS

Based on Jaffe's real-life romance with his wife, this debut novel proves that truth is cuter than fiction—regrettably so. Literary agent Annie Hollerman is in her mid-40s, a refugee from dead-end relationships and a promising newspaper career that ended in minor scandal when she was in her mid-20s. Journalist Jack DePaul, a 50-something Harrison Ford type, yearns for the fiery enthusiasm of his youth. A friend introduces them over e-mail, and after a blind date the two begin a passionate if cautious flirtation. Composed largely of Jack's missives, the book reads almost like his journal, with plenty of immediacy and in-the-moment energy, but little drama. There's a voyeuristic giddiness to the reader's enjoyment of Jack and Annie's letters, e-mails and phone calls, but the story of their affair has all the suspense of a nursery rhyme. At one point a psychic tells Annie she will meet a man surrounded by words. She can't believe it. The reader can. Only one brief moment of conflict threatens the lovers' happiness. At a business meeting, Jack's old girlfriend finds his e-mails to Annie and, in a fit of jealousy, tells Annie that Jack wrote the same e-mails to her. Fortunately, Jack happens to be editing a story about former reporters, and his writer needs to interview Annie. Before the reader has a chance to fret, Annie and Jack forgive each other and are reunited. This novel has the allure of familiarity, but there's little else to recommend it. Foreign rights sold in Germany and Italy. (Apr.)