Vapors

Admiral House made news recently when it announced a hefty ad/promo campaign for the second novel (after Walking K) by DeMott, a former FBI agent. The novel itself, about a coverup of corporate fraud, is less remarkable than the campaign, though it is competent throughout and outstanding toward its end. Vietnam vet Peter Jamison is working for Dillon Aerospace on a weapons system for a new airplane--until the project is called off and his team fired. Jamison turns for help to Melissa Corley, who works for the Citizen's Coalition Against Government Waste. When Jamison gives her his files on the weapons system, Melissa has the information she needs to prove that Dillon has been bilking the government out of a billion dollars. But Dillon security chief Jack Kane is going to do his best to stop both of them--and his best includes murder. The pacing of this novel is frustrating. Instead of tense scenes following one another like firecrackers, they're interrupted by dead-fuse descriptions. DeMott spends too much time describing everything Jamison does from the moment he gets out of bed, diffusing much of the potential for suspenseful thrills. But near the novel's end, the story shifts gears with unexpected plot twists and a major, clever character shift, opening up so many intriguing and fresh new perspectives that they seem to be streaming in from a different book. While ending with a flourish as a stylized, turn-on-a-dime crime story where the lines between love, murder and espionage are deftly blurred, this novel could, and should, have been much more. 35,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Apr.)