EYE CONTACT

Actor Collins (Ashley Wilkes in the upcoming Scarlett TV miniseries) writes a steamy first novel about a young woman whose sexual compulsions make her a murder suspect. Actress Nicolette (Nick) Stallings is addicted to dangerous erotic encounters. She began exposing herself to boys as a teenager and only feels attractive when she's in the midst of a sexual fantasy. She has always managed to keep these encounters separate from her ``real'' life until she meets Jeffrey White. Nick dubs him Wally Wall Street when they make eye contact across a restaurant and drops a matchbook in his lap with the message ``Pierre Hotel...1 a.m. Tonight.'' Too much room-service champagne propels Nick to satisfy a long-held fantasy (``The Triple'') and loses her a part in a feature film. Worse still, Jeffrey—unlike her other conquests—doesn't go away. Blaming Nick when his wife throws him out, he follows her home; she gets some help from new and newlywed friends Joanne and Frankie (an odd comic note), but then Jeffrey jumps out of her window. Fortunately, he lands on the terrace below and is carted off by an EMS team. Nick opens her front door the next day to find Jeffrey in her living room again, this time with a knife in his hand. He stabs himself, leaving behind evidence to frame Nick, whose flight from the apartment before calling the police makes her both a murder suspect and the prime story on the evening news. Even in the thick of all this, she continues to play sexual games with a doctor, her lawyer, and even a cab driver. Attorney Ernie ``The Wizard'' Moran saves his client before charges are filed, however, and Nick is ready to acknowledge her addiction and to fight for her career. A somewhat facile ending, but this fast, sexy read is a strong first effort.