European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                . James a writer of great character David Tarrant detective writers have a certain mystique. You think of them huddled Over a beat up manual typewriter under a swirl of cigarette smoke or As some Sam Spade character hunched Over a shot Glass. You figure they talk out the sides of their Mouths a even around reporters. A aged rid duh a suit kid. Yunnu Stan a but . James looks like your great aunt who likes to show up at the front door with a plate of warm Oatmeal cookies. Her Crisp British accent recalls More the discreet Charm of a drawing room and Sherry than the seedy Romance of a Smoky bar and Bourbon. Yet in the swarming Field of detective novelists few would contest her spot at the top of the Hill. After the publication of her latest Book a devices and desires a which hit the top of the new York times Best seller list a one Magazine reviewer called her the reigning Queen of the detective novel. Another said she has overtaken Agatha Christie in popularity. James dismisses the comparison As easily As a seasoned Sleuth discarding a false clue. A i am an absolutely different writer from Agatha Christie a she said during an interview at the Brussels International Book fair in Belgium. A except that we re both English and we both write crime novels we have absolutely nothing in common at  in fact her style honed Over 30 years of writing . James relies less on elaborate Tricky endings than on Good old fashioned character development. And that a what makes her More similar to the old greats of the detective novel like sir Arthur Conan Doyle than those who came later like Christie. A i think she was a mistress of Surprise a James said of Christie who died in 1976. A i done to think she was very Strong on characterization or setting. What she was Strong on was to produce an astonishingly ingenious plot so that in the end people Are  James believes the huge resurgence in the popularity of the detective novel says a lot about modern life. A i think in times of anxiety it is a very reassuring genre because it does observe the Sanctity of the individual life and its a Small Celebration of order and reason. Its a very rational form. It does really affirm our belief that we live in a very benevolent and comprehensible universe and that our problems can in fact be  she a a bit surprised at the popularity her own novels have achieved although from a very Early age she had always hoped to be a writer and As she put it a serious writer. James 19 when world War ii started lived in London when the City suffered under a nightly bombardment from nazi warplanes. A at that Point there was not even any certainty of surviving a she said. Then when her husband came Back from the War ill she had to devote full time to supporting him and two Small children. A i had to get a Safe Job and a Good Check at the end of the  eventually she realized that there was never such a thing As a Good time to write and a if i was going to be a novelist in be got to write a  the familiar form and Structure of the detective novel attracted her. A i Felt this would be a wonderful apprenticeship. Eventually i hoped to be a serious novelist. Then i realized i could stay within the form and still be a serious novelist that it was not  for a Long time her novels received critical acclaim but Only recently did she break through to commercial Success. Having worked so Long to develop her style she said she does not feel pressure to lower her standards simply to take advantage of her Success. A you Are very anxious not to publish anything that would fall below your own standards. It would be very depressing to write a Book that you knew yourself was less Good than other books a she said. A you have to have a sense of proportion and realize that a lot of this is simply Good  David Tarrant is a reporter in the stars and stripes Brussels  devices and desires by . James Alfred a. Knopf 435 pp., $19.95 in a devices and desires a poet detective Adam Dalgliesh a sensitive loner has brought out a new slim volume of verse. Resisting his publishers desire to push it like a Candy bar Dalgliesh has retreated to the English coast to compose his soul in a converted Windmill he has inherited. Before Long however he is embroiled in the local scene. A serial killer is stalking the Vicinity and Dalgliesh is sought out by a former London colleague who now Heads the local police and who regards Dalgliesh with a mixture of respect and scarcely muted resentment. The detecting of who did in the victims is intricate and professional and although it mounts to what used to be called a Socko finish and fiery As we lit feels As though it was written somewhat indifferently. But . James descriptions of people and situations show eloquence and sensitivity not frequently come upon in fiction anywhere. In context they suggest that crime fiction As such has no limits Only limitations. Charles Champlin los Angeles times a time of War by Michael Peterson pocket books hardcover 580 pp., $19.95 this big novel while going Over ground that has become familiar a the Vietnam War a May have put that sad conflict into clearer perspective than most if not All of its predecessors. This is the Story of Bradley Marshall a personal a a ambassador of beleaguered Lyndon b. Johnson sent to Vietnam in �?T67 and �?T68 to find some Graceful Way out of that mess. What Marshall uncovers alas is what most of us now concede was the True horror of that War treachery rampant among political factions within our own government and among hangers on from the Days of French Rule the cynical buying and Selling of information and misinformation the numbing lethargy of american officers become hardened to the task of sending their Young wards into engagements that they know Are suicidal. Peterson a Story which some reviewers have compared a and not inappropriately a to Norman mailers a the naked and the dead and Herman Wouk so the winds of War a is a sprawling and compelling narrative that blends fiction with such real life players of the Era As lbs and Gen. William Westmoreland. But As fiction alone a a time of War is a blood chilling adventure Story. Don g. Campbell los Angeles times the bad place by Dean Koontz Putnam a 382 pp., $19.95 Welcome to Dean Koontz a newest Nightmare. Welcome too to a new experience in breathless terror. A the bad place is so evil it reeks of a kind of terror that brings a helpless person close to something so infinitely terrible they know it will kill them but they go anyway. A husband and wife private detective team Are asked by a mysteriously wealthy client to find out where he disappears to at night. What they find Are strange insects that produce diamonds and a family so unspeakably loathsome even the most cynical readers will find themselves twitching in their chair. Koontz writes of such unspeakable evil you will want to fling the Book out the window but you can to Stop Reading it. It takes you on a Chilly roller coaster ride of stomach gripping suspense that throws you breathlessly against a Brick Wall at the end. A the bad place is by far Koontz Best work. Kathleen Ostrander United press International All books available at stars and stripes bookstores. Page 8 sunday april 29,1990