Zig Zag Man

In the latest in the Stone Angel series, Paris-based investigator Pete Sawyer's attempt to track down the perpetrator of an eight-year-old kidnapping leads him into a web of Nazi war crimes, neo-Nazi activities and international drug trafficking. Helen Marsh was snatched from her German boarding school when she was 10, and two of her fingers were sent to her physically and emotionally remote father, who was reluctant to pay the ransom. Now, eight years later, Helen recognizes the voice of one of her kidnappers in the lobby of the Ritz and hires Pete to find him. His search takes him around Europe, assisted by his able partner Fritz Donhoff. As the two discover that the man who appears to be Benjamin Hulvane is an imposter, witnesses to the abductor's identity are being methodically murdered. But Pete knows everyone in the crime-solving business, from the French secret service to the Genoa police, and they all help him out. Albert's story is taut, with not one extra bit of dialogue or action, and readers will especially savor the last chapter. (July)