About Face

June 1, 2003
In his second appearance, filmmaker Bill Damen is shooting an image piece for Algoplex, a data-visualization company in Silicon Valley. Algoplex is ready to sign a potentially lucrative agreement with Plush Biologics, a company whose gene-regulating treatments could revolutionize the skincare industry. At the filming, Algoplex's owner, Rod Glaser, is agitated when his girlfriend, Alissa, doesn't show up as planned. Bill goes with Rod to Alissa's empty apartment, where Rod confesses that Alissa is a hired escort with whom he's fallen in love. Bill agrees to help Rod find Alissa, and then, when Rod is found dead, he launches his own investigation into the murder. Bill's motivation for entering and staying on the case is weak, and the biotechnology detail is not woven as seamlessly into the story as it was in Calder's debut, " Knockout Mouse" [BKL Jl 02]. Still, Bill is a likable character, there are some intriguing plot twists here, and the idea of a filmmaking amateur sleuth has appeal. Give this series a chance; it has terrific potential.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)