Abide With Me

The lives of five thirtyish African-Americans are updated in this final installment of a trilogy (Invisible Life, 1992; Just As I Am, 1994) that doesn't stray from the soap-opera conventions that also govern the first two. The cast will be familiar to readers of the series: Raymond, Trent, Nicole, Jared, and Basil are all educated, successful, fairly well-off professionals who eat sumptuous meals and spend time with expensive therapists - a deft by-the-numbers strategy that excuses Harris from having to develop their characters himself. Ray and his old frat brother Trent live happily in their gorgeous Seattle home; Nicole and Jared, still childless in New York, enjoy immaculate marital bliss; Basil, also a Big Apple denizen, is a handsome ESPN sports commentator. All the men have excellent pectorals and exquisite butts; all the women are shapely and beautiful. Not that they don't have problems. When Ray is nominated for a federal judgeship, his love for Trent is challenged by an FBI background check that reveals Trent's criminal record. Nicole wins a part in the show Dreamgirls, but her success is threatened by a scheming understudy. Basil internally rages against his uncle while nonviolently abusing a variety of men and women. Still, in the end anyone who is driven by hatred is thwarted; anyone who embraces love and forgiveness prevails; and most reconciliations are sealed by hot tumbles in the bedroom. Only friendless loner Basil fails to right himself, though the close offers some hope - presumably for another installment. Harris is a writer with a passable talent for pacing and dialogue, but his characters fail to evolve and their changes of heart are wholly predictable. More of the same from an unadventurous conception. (Kirkus Reviews)