Horizons

An airliner crash and improbable survival plot bring a handful of stock characters--spitfire Latin actress, redneck criminal, mousy librarian, orphaned toddler--together with heroine Kelly Kennedy, a lingerie boutique owner. In mid-divorce, Kelly is the proverbial high-maintenance woman who proves remarkably adaptable on their deserted South Pacific island. Zack Goldstein becomes her protector and lover in this latest by the author of Charmed which offers a smorgasbord of survival dilemmas and bantering dialogue while playing loose with setting details, exemplified by easy-open coconuts and a precocious parrot. The various castaways return to hectic civilization for Kelly's divorce and to witness her marriage to Zack, which is more appealing than the other emotionally tepid tribulations on the island. But the epilogue, which may perk up a few dimples, finally snaps the thin threads of credibility. (Sept.)