PERJURY

PERJURY Stan Latreille (Crown, $24) In this made-for-the-movies legal thriller, Davey Alden has charged her older husband, a community stalwart, with child abuse, and then admitted to lying on the stand; the novel picks her up just before her perjury trial. Representing her is one Jack Brenner, ex-Chicago public defender who retreated to small-town Michigan when his marriage went bad. Stacked against them are all the chips: a rabid prosecutor, dirt-digging reporters, etc. Jack believes Davey is actually telling the truth -- or at least, some kind of truth. What that truth is provides the mystery of the book; what dramatic tension there is comes from the pull between the spirit and the letter of the law. You can practically see visions of John Grisham's millions dancing in the author's head. B- -- Vanessa V. Friedman