"Sam Acquillo has lost some of his scruffy
appeal since he washed up in the Long Island village of Southampton
in Chris Knopf's first novel, "The Last Refuge." A
burnout case from the corporate jungle, Sam is still living alone
in his bayside cottage in HEAD WOUNDS(Permanent Press, $28),
and he's still talking philosophy with his dog. But between steady
work as a carpenter and the romance he has going with a gorgeous
wealthy neighbor, Sam's claim on existential angst seems pretty
tenuous. Knopf tries to restore the gloom by designating Sam
as the chief suspect in the murder of a shady housing developer,
a tag that doesn't really stick. For all his reputation as a
tough guy, it's only when Sam sits down to chew the fat with
bartenders, fishermen, teachers and other hard-working townies
that we remember why it's such a pleasure to visit this seaside
refuge the tourists never see."
