Telephone conversations with New Yorkers during July and August indicate that the damp, sultry weather gravely diminishes their legendary powers of concentration. "Oh ... OK ... Um, what did you say again?" went one recent and quite typical exchange. Clearly, the concept of summer reading was invented on the Eastern seaboard. But in milder climes, there's an equivalent: If the book is suspenseful, plot-driven or, if all else fails, trashy enough to get you through that last five minutes on the Stairmaster without checking the clock, we're talking top-drawer beach reading. Likewise if the story grabs you through the entire landing sequence of a TWA flight, successfully squelching the urge to take time out for prayer.

Our critics have subjected six of the season's most intriguing and highly touted thrillers to the most rigorous meteorological, cardiovascular and aeronautic testing. The results follow. We wholeheartedly encourage you to try this at home, or on the beach, as the case may be. Just don't forget to bring the zinc oxide -- you may wind up staying out there longer than you think.
July 4, 1997

ILLUSTRATION BY GLYNIS SWEENY

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