WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

When Tyson Danneman decided to sell his woodland acreage, the town of Somerset was split into two camps. The residents along Forest Hill Road shuddered at the thought of a housing project where once their view had been and a young lawyer suggested that they vote to secede, keeping the woods within the boundaries of the new village. Danneman's associates in the sale are the local politicians, a developer who builds houses of balsa wood and glue and these have the support of local businesses who want Somerset to grow. Each faction is certain that they have the right on their side and the author has accomplished the feat of continually shifting focus from one group to another, first building and then undermining a good case for each. The typical political set ups of suburbia are well examined here and the nation-wide concern with real estate will keep readers going with an uncomfortable sense of self-recognition. Unfortunately, the results of the township's civil war are so contrived--kidnapping, the woods set afire, blackmail, etc.-- that the realities of real estate are left behind for fantasies best suited to a large cast on a wide screen. Possibly popular.