Patterson (No Safe Place) deftly combines his knack for spellbinding legal drama and his recent interest in the world of politics. Stella Marz is the assistant county prosecutor in a struggling Midwestern city. Her boss is running for mayor， and Stella hopes to be elected to his job. First， however， she must investigate the deaths of two prominent menAthe project manager for the construction of a new baseball stadium and the city s leading defender of drug cases. Neither is clearly murder， but the circumstances are horrific and unusual， involving heroin and kinky sex. Stella s investigation quickly becomes a factor in the mayoral race， and the candidates， their backers， and other ambitious county employees all play roles in Stella s progress. The deeper she goes， the more signs of corruption she finds， and the less she can trust her friends， her co-workers， and even herself. As in all of Patterson s books， the plot s twists and turns build to an unexpected conclusion. Patterson has peopled this very believable novel with fascinating characters， and his understanding of political subtleties is superb. Highly recommended. [Literary Guild main selection.]AKatherine E.A. Sorci， IIT Research Inst.， Annapolis， M.-AKatherine E.A. Sorci， IIT Research Inst.， Annapolis， MDCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information， Inc.