Untitled Novel

When a black college football star is charged with raping a white cheerleader in Arkansas, dogged lawyer Gideon Page (seen before in Religious Conviction) gets the low-paying, highly visible defense case in a novel that exhibits wonderful moves away from the ball but fumbles its major plot development. It's never really clear whether Dade Cunningham is guilty of raping Robin Perry; both are multifaceted characters who are clearly capable of lying. Otherwise, Dade--part good kid, part smug predator of willing female flesh--is less convincing. Efforts to remain politically correct get in the way of both the protagonist and the author, hamstringing the main narrative, including the investigation, the trial and the final revelations. Yet other, lesser parts work very well. Page's daughter, the offspring of a white father and black mother, is a student at the university and exhibits mixed loyalties in regard to the case. Page has a new young lover and another client, a disturbed woman who believes that a former governor of Arkansas borrowed four grand from her after jogging into a McDonald's. The lawyer discovers that his grandfather may have extended the family line in an unexpected direction. These moments work. The rape case doesn't. (Aug.)