The setting is southern California - land of power and plenty, a landscape now scarred by brutal, sadistic random violence, its populace plagued by faceless enemies who relish evil.

Antihero Ted Lowe is a curious blend of hypocrite and truth-seeker. He's a seasoned, salty-tongued reporter for a Los Angeles newspaper whose view of life may be found in his musings: ".....the ancients invented God to explain why things happen. They were afraid to accept the arbitrariness of life, too ignorant to understand the great cosmic joke that the universe itself is just a gigantic accident."

He is assigned to cover a murder story - the rape and fatal beating of 13-year-old Megan Wright. Her body is found atop Sepulveda Pass; the crime scene is grisly. It's a sight Lowe cannot forget.

Obtaining a photo of the dead girl, he thinks, "I'm glad for this chance to see her whole."

Lowe's coverage of the crime is set against a backdrop of apparently unconnected break-ins - brutal assaults in which a band of ski-masked thugs force mothers to watch the rape and sometimes fatal beating of their daughters.

"Why look for motivation behind the violence - why did he do it, why did it happen to her?" the narrator coldly asks. "These questions are pointless of course. Things happen because they do."

Doors close, evidence is skewed, and possible witnesses disappear when Brad Devlin, teenage son of wealthy, influential Jeremiah Devlin, is linked to Megan Wright's murder. Pressured by his editors for daily doses of sensationalism, Lowe knows a lurid front page story would be a boost for his career. He investigates on his own, while launching an affair with a smart but naive young reporter who shares his affinity for rough and tumble sex.

When the band of rampaging thugs, which includes Brad Devlin, kidnap Lowe and force him to accompany them as they rape and pummel an Asian mother and daughter, he is forced to confront his inner contradictions - he is fascinated by the ghastly act. "The sound of breaking glass thrills me. It's a true noise of the night."

Brad's eventual indictment for the murder of Megan is hardly a blip on his father's mental screen - Jeremiah Devlin has already bought off the district attorney, his challenger, the newspaper publisher, and others. The Devlin's high-powered, higher-priced attorney exudes supreme confidence.

Lowe is left to decide whether to take the stand and testify to what he witnessed in order to help convict Brad, thereby risking recrimination for failing to report the crime or remaining silent to protect himself.

Mr. Coffey handily layers moral questions with legal issues as the narrative races from investigation to a no-holds-barred courtroom trial. To the author's credit there is little physical description of the character who most embodies evil - he remains a faceless terror, growing even more frightening in the reader's imagination.

A cast of L.A. noir characters enliven the story, while the enigma of Ted Lowe's character both puzzles and fascinates. Mr. Coffey, an editor at the New York Times, charts new thriller territory with The Serpent Club; he's a cagey, daring and imaginative writer from whom we want to hear more.

Los Angeles news reporter Ted Lowe has covered many violent crimes over the years, but no incident affected him more deeply than the death of teenager Megan Wright. She was his first corpse and she was left beaten and naked except for a pair of white sox.

Ted is surprised how serene Megan's mother is over her daughter's murder. He makes some inquiries and learns Mrs. Wright is involved with a rich and powerful entrepreneur. Additionally, Megan was dating the man's son Brad. An obsessed Ted finds evidence that links Brad to the crime, but the journalist does not know how sordid the truth really is.

THE SERPENT'S CLUB is a very good tale that mixes a thriller, legal procedural, psychological suspense, and amateur sleuthing into an entertaining story line. Though Tom Coffey's book includes much violence, none of it seems excessive as these acts propel the dramatic story forward. Ted is a flawed individual struggling to redeem himself by obtaining justice for victims. Fans will want more appearances of this imperfect antihero.

Harriet Klausner