Goldilocks

Corruption, betrayal, the Mafia and ties that go back to childhood provide the underpinnings of this gloomy but well-written entry from veteran Coburn ( Off Duty ; The Babysitter ). Louise Baker, child of the slums, has worked her way to the top of a Mafia loan operation, meanwhile having married the mentally unstable scion of an old New England family and established herself in a small, affluent town near her birthplace, Lawrence, Mass. She still keeps in touch with, and helps, friends from her youth, and she calls on one of them, lawyer Barney Cole, to find employment for a young man whom she had briefly taken as a lover but now wants to get rid of. He is Henry Witlo (the Goldilocks of the title), a psychotic Vietnam War veteran who now proceeds to terrorize a recently widowed client of Cole's. This subplot moves in tandem with the main plot, chronicling the downfall of Louise and the network of people who owe her favors. The feds are after her, and when they start putting pressure on her associatesCole, his lawyer mistress, the police captain who kills for herit all ends in death and betrayal, with only Cole standing firm to his principles. ( Jan. )