The Other Side of Dark

17-year-old Stacy McAdams wakes after four years in a coma to discover that her mother was killed by the same man who shot her. The futility of her mother's death angers Stacy into probing her dead memory for the face of the murderer. Nixon attempts to weave into the simplicity of the plot the inevitable emotional adjustments which Stacy has to make after her four-year 'sleep'. The stage is set for Nixon to deliver her usual efficient and entertaining package - but on this occasion she fails to convince. The storyline is acceptable and the pace encouragingly brisk but emotional trauma is portrayed merely by constant repetition of the problems and too many of the characters are similarly one-dimensional. Stacy's high school friends alternate between clumsy condescension and insensitive curiosity; charismatic Jeff - with whom Stacy falls in love - reveals himself as un undercover agent in a narcotics squad in an ending which is frustrating in its vacuity. 13-15 year old Nixon fans will probably want to read this book - but only on the strength of the last.