NYPD Red 7 The murder sorority

After coauthoring six previous NYPD Red novels with cocreator James Patterson, bestseller Karp (the Lomax and Biggs mysteries) solos in the rousing seventh entry, which pits detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald of the elite NYPD Red team, whose members investigate crimes against the superrich, against five assassins who call themselves Kappa Omega Delta--for Killers on Demand. (They're all men, but have chosen female pseudonyms, hence they refer to themselves as a sorority.) First, in lower Manhattan, a sniper shoots dead womanizing film producer Warren Hellman, who's just been acquitted of murdering a police detective. At almost the same time farther uptown, another killer slices the throat of Hellman's brother, also a film person, who three years earlier was responsible for the death of a young actress. The five assassins, each specializing in a trademark m.o., proceed to murder other loathsome types with panache and impunity. Jordan and MacDonald have their work cut out trying to stop them. Shocking plot twists, clever dialogue, and dead-on characterizations keep the pages turning. Readers will agree that his happy welding of police procedural and sly humor is the best yet in the series. Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (Nov.)