Oasis of Dreams

A Lebanese man's death in a suspicious car accident draws his daughter, Katherine Maser, his best friend, Armand Fremont, and several more sinister characters into a web of double-crosses, hidden motives and secret identities. Among other things, slave trading, Swiss bank accounts and Lebanese politics come into play, and romance is not absent either as Katherine, an American lawyer, and Armand, a casino owner, find themselves drawn to each other. Set in New York, Paris and the glitzy Beirut of the 1960s, Shelby's ( Dreamweavers ) solid narrative chugs ahead, even when its characters seem to bear out one man's observation of the ``cool, slick facade that grew on the hearts and consciences of Beiruti women.'' Often the happenings are well paced but patently unbelievable. After suffering a gun wound, tumbling off of a balcony and landing in a body of water, Fremont manages to survive by thinking of his beloved. Perhaps most trite of all is the fact that the chief villain's motive is merely to keep his demanding and manipulative girlfriend--a former child prostitute--in jewels and designer clothing. (Jan.)