Vendetta

The sizzling pornographic films of Candy Lane are a box-office bounty and a route for the Mafia to launder illegal money for themselves and their drug-dealing Cuban partners. Shortly after the voluptuous young star of Lickerice is found shot in the head, with a valentine drawn in high-quality cocaine near her body, her costars begin to get killed in the same manner. Police Lt. Jack Raines and special agent Silvio Martinez wonder if this is the work of a serial killer, or if the murders are linked to the Cuban cocaine ring they are tracking. Also in the dark is Don Angelo Maffatore, whose decision to strike out at his Cuban partners sets off a bloodbath that the law enforcers heartily applaud. As the body count rises, a frustrated Lt. Raines, who has lost credibility by keeping company with a suspect, seems to get no closer to cracking the case. Little excitement is generated until the final chapters of this thriller by the author of The Discovery, and the implausible solution is further undermined by the fact that far less attention has been lavished throughout on character development than on portraying the slimy world of pornography. (July 15)