Tricks

MWA Grand Master McBain scores again with the story of a hellish Halloween in the famous 87th Precinct. Detectives Hawes and Brown get reports of a dismembered corpse that sexy Marie Sebastiani identifies as her husband, magician Sebastian the Great. Meanwhile, detectives Carella and Meyer go after a gang of children whose tricks are killing and robbing liquor-store owners. In another part of the jungle, Eileen Burke poses as a hooker to decoy the city's serial killer, and loses her backup team. The night runs its dreadful course as the kids shoot Carella and Meyer and ends, ironically, with goof-off detective Andy Parker winning credit for a spectacular coup. McBain's machine-gun dialogue and authentic atmosphere keep the reader in screaming suspense throughout the narrative, guaranteeing that this will be a bestseller, like its 40 predecessors. (October 28)