Eye Contact

Sex over substance seems to be the modus operandi in this racy debut about a New York actress and her non-stop series of high-risk flings. Stage and screen actor Collins frequently aims to include some humor between the steamy boudoir episodes; while some scenes prove amusing, others border on self-parody. The novel's opening chapters are almost offensive, as heroine Nicolette ``Nick'' Stallings (``with a body that might bring a swimsuit issue to mind'') seduces three men, all in a night's work, and then brags about scoring ``a triple.'' One of her conquests, a sadomasochistic lawyer, commits suicide in Nick's apartment under circumstances that make the death look like murder. Ensuing events deal with Nick's attempts to clear herself and come to grips with her addictive tendencies toward exhibitionism and seduction. Unfortunately, Nick is a cliched, thinly drawn character who comes off as an empty, pathetic sexual predator and willing victim. Moreover, the story line lacks the kind of tension and drama that Collins will presumably bring to his role as Ashley Wilkes in the upcoming TV miniseries Scarlett . (June)