IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

A drug bust that goes bad—two guys are dead, a cop and an unarmed seller—once again brings together crime reporter Kate Murray and her ex-lover John Finn, NYPD Narcotics, when they meet over the bodies. Kate has moved from the Daily Herald to TV, as a producer and occasional live-feed reporter, and she still worries all the time about losing her job. Finn, though, has even bigger worries: Narcotics group leader Doug Bigelow—the tough, protective boss who saved his life during a bodega holdup—was the first man into that drug bust, and Finn, incredulous when he sees another cop getting set up to take the rap for the killing, painfully starts to gather the evidence that could put Bigelow away. It's an uphill struggle for a hero who's already battling the bottle, as well as the bad feelings about him that the heroine's been storing up for two years. Bigelow alternately bullies Finn and laughs him off; when Finn goes to Internal Affairs, their lack of interest tells him that he's being fitted for a frame; Bigelow even tells Kate that Finn's dirty. Ultimately, Kate will have to choose between a network fast-track and saving Jack's hide, and you'll never guess which one she picks. Less earthy and more earthbound than this New York Newsday reporter's debut novel, Strangers in the Night (1994). Kate Murray and John Finn are as interesting as ever, but this time around, the obstacles to their blissful fadeout aren't.