The High-Impact Infidelity Diet

With awkward tag-team writing by Voodoo Kit series author Harry and playwright Pfeffinger, this weightless book has girth only in its ostensible subject: the struggles of corpulent chums Martin, Randy and Doug to slim down to 210 pounds each. The proverbial carrot, dangled by their exasperated wives? Carte blanche with a pro who's a college friend of the gals. The rub? She doesn't exist. When the guys shed the weight, sullenly but surely, the desperate housewives find their bluff called, and the ensuing imbroglios test their marriages in disappointingly flat comic style. Loaded up with kitchen-sink filler like hysterical e-mails, inspirational Post-its, whiny chat-room session text, excruciating monologues ("Curse you, man breasts") and ungainly heart-to-hearts, the story, try as it might to zip along, staggers under its strained humor and plods into a blandly incoherent ending. The concept has potential, but the players amount to little more than stock-character shtick. (Dec.)