VELOCITY<i> by Kristine McCloy (Washington Square: $7.95) </i>

A promising first novel about learning to accept love and loss. Kristine McCloy writes well when she describes women confronting their emotions. Ellie must come to grips with the death of her mother: The memories and the loss of her reassuring presence have become an almost intolerable burden. She turns for support to Sandra, a local waitress and self-described casuality in the war between the sexes. But Ellie, who’s lived in New York’s grubby East Village, also is the daughter of a small-town Southern sheriff. Her naive pursuit of a dope-dealing biker seems more than a little improbable. Nor is Jesse, the lean, mean monosyllabic dream stud, much of a character. He’s supposed to be a freewheeling outlaw, working at the fringes of the Hell’s Angels, but these bikers are decidedly tame--the Blue Meanies in “Yellow Submarine” were more threatening. McCloy is reportedly at work on a second novel, and it will be interesting to watch her talent develop.