The Alias Man
Bill Pronzini
Walker, June 2004, $24.00, 228 pp.
ISBN 0802733816

In Vancouver, Canada Sarah has lived in limbo since her husband's car was found in the ocean and he was believed dead. The only part of her life that gives her pleasure is her book store but since Scott lost so much money in the stock market her financial position is precarious.

Morgan has been married to Burt for four years but lately he has vanished for days at a time. When she confronts him with her opinion, he walks out on her.

Jessie loved Darrin but when he died at age forty-seven, she thought she would never recover. After seven months of mourning, she goes to Santa Fe for a vacation in the hopes that will lift her spirits. There she meets Frank Court who spends time with before proposing. She returns home expecting to hear from Frank, but he never contacts her.

Morgan finds proof that Burt is Scott, Frank and a host of other aliases. She holds his marriage certificates and a list of defrauded wives. Jessie was to be his next victim. The women meet planning to find a way to testify against this con artist because "hell has no furry like a woman scorned".

THE ALIAS MAN is another exciting crime thriller from the pen of Bill Pronzini, writer of the" Nameless Detective" series. Readers watch as the antagonist's past slowly catches up with him and the audience will root for the women who want justice, not vengeance. These are the heroines of this dark and gritty work. Mr. Pronzoni knows how to tap into the primal essence of a character and deliver him or her up to the audience for judgment.

Harriet Klausner