Storme Front: A Wyatt Storme Mystery

Lame excuses for violence and lots of smart patter can't redeem this lackluster story about illegal gun trading. Introduced in Dreamsicle, former Dallas Cowboy Wyatt Storme, now living in the Colorado mountains, is worried that a Vietnam-vet friend is involved in something over his head. Soon Storme has befriended a lowly drug dealer and his doofus sidekick (the first of many dim souls subjected to the Wyatt wit), secretly observed a gun buy and shot a few paramilitary types-all before departing with the stash. From there on, Storme is hunting for the bad guys amidst ballplaying buddies and political hotshots. Ripley's hero, who plays classical music in his macho muscle car and tries to keep up romantic repartee with his anchorwoman sweetheart, seems molded on the Spenser form. But given his penchant for putting down others and his readiness to pummel his way out of trouble, below the surface, he's as thuglike as the bad guys. Amid the the wiseacre dialogue and predictable brutality, the plot seems almost an afterthought. Author tour. (Jan.)