FICTION

IMPERSONAL ATTRACTIONS by Sarah Shankman (St. Martin’s: $14.95). Annie Tannenbaum is a beautiful divorcee living alone in San Francisco. She has a more than professional interest in the research she’s conducting for her book on finding Mr. Right, called “Meeting Cute.”

Annie’s best friend, dazzlingly pretty Samantha Storey, is a lawyer-turned-journalist. When she’s not too busy chasing crime for the San Francisco Chronicle, she shares in the quest for love.

But when a woman Annie had admired and interviewed for “Meeting Cute” becomes the latest victim of a shockingly brutal rapist/murderer, the two friends embark on a decidedly different, potentially lethal quest.

Determined to catch the killer, they doggedly pursue all leads resulting from the continuing crimes, blithely unaware that the killer is now stalking one of them as his next intended victim.

In her first novel, author Sarah Shankman has produced a thoroughly satisfying, utterly charming thriller. Her descriptions of the fairy-tale beauty of San Francisco serve well to emphasize the nightmare nature of the crimes.

Shankman develops her characters with wit and generosity. The result is that the reader hopes that Annie and Samantha will succeed both in catching the killer and in living happily ever after--and hopes for a sequel to find out.