THIRD MAN OUT

When gay activist John Rutka engineers his own endangerment to generate sympathy and business for his ``outing'' publication, it backfires: Gay p.i. Don Strachey (Ice Blues, etc.) quickly quits bodyguarding him, and one of Rutka's many enemies takes the opportunity to kidnap him and burn him so badly that it takes forensic dentistry to identify the body. Which closet gay wanted to protect his own homosexual exposure? Rutka's files lead to a TV newscaster, a politician's aide, and someone referred to only as ``All-American Asshole Mega-Hypocrite,'' a man Strachey ties in to weekly trysts with the newscaster at a hot-sheets motel. Meanwhile, Strachey and boyfriend Tim make regular hospital visits to a comatose AIDS friend, grapple with the concept of assisted-death, and Strachey finally connects a VIP with Rutka's files—for a too- pat ending involving pedophilia, coincidences par excellence, and impropriety from several clerics. The too-telegraphed plot undercuts some very nice views of Albany and a wry, unconventional shamus-sleuth. Stevenson is adept at handling people and places—now he needs a workable rather than workmanlike plot to put them through their paces.