The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 59

E12 CALENDAR LOSANGELESTIMES itincludescoffee. 0 7ED 00 7 HEBB Forhomedelivery: myaccount.latimes.com or1.800.LATIMES. ThursdayinCalendarWeekend andatcalendarlive.com/weekend Lauren almighty. AL SEIB Los Angeles Times MusicTheater JesusChristSuperstar July15 MaestroVictorVener JohnWilliams CarmenOnBroadway July29 August12 2133653500 ticketmaster.com DisneyConcertHallaswereinventtheconcert fromonly Tickets 30 callnow! MarkTaperForum 213.628.2772CenterTheatreGroup.org LTOR -Tzi Ma, Hoon Lee and Peter Scanavino. Photo: Craig Schwartz.

Vittes, The Hollywood Reporter AT8 rity, civility, affirmative action and religion in politics. So, amid reports of a $4-million advance, was published with considerable fanfare and wide critical acclaim, including comparisons to Turow and the imprimatur of Grisham, who recommended the novel as the inaugural pick for the book club. was also a literal monster of a read well more than600 pages that might have benefited from an editor possessed of a sharper pencil. Carter was certainly not the first novelist to cover the world of African American privilege, but his impeccable Ivy League credentials and penchant for describing that myriad details gave readers a frisson of excitement as they peeked into the black boudoirs and ballrooms in a more dramatic fashion than had been presented in suchsober nonfiction books as Lawrence Otis Kind of or David Search of Black Now comes England set again in fictional Elm Harbor, where Lemaster Carlyle, a Barbadian immigrant, has just become the first black president of his prestigious university. Lemaster and his wife, Julia, two minor characters from also rule a social circle, ironically named the Clan, heavily fortified borders of which, once upon a time, Granny Vee and her buddies diligently patrolled, lest the wrong sort of Negroes force their way Aformer White House counsel, the suave yet donnish Lemaster is a member of a staid Harlem club, the Empyr- eals, and a university alumnus who counts among his close friends and former roommates the president of the United States and a liberal senator who is making his own run for the White House.

Julia, a deputy dean at the divinity school, is beholden to her husband not only for continuing to provide her with the lifestyle to which her mother had made her accustomed in New Hampshire, but also for indulging her ill humor and social ineptitude when dealing with his eight-figure donors. Rather than feting alumni, one or two facing indictment, whose only virtue was piles of Julia would clearly rather spend time with members of the Ladybugs, a black elite social club reminiscent of the real-life Girl Friends or Links, counseling her students at the divinityschool or being involved in the lives of her children, most notably 17-year- old Vanessa who had, nine months before, set fire to the Mercedes. Knowing this last bit, readers will be forgiven for fearing all the Carlyles are automotively challenged when, driving their Escalade in a snowstorm one November evening to pick up Vanessa, Lemaster takes a beloved shortcut, resulting in a skidding accident that, among other things, puts the couple within a few feet of the bullet-riddled body of Kellen Zant, an African American and popular economics professor at the university who was also a well-paid consultant to various and sundry corporations. Kellen, we learn, was also the former lover of Julia, with whom he had a tempestuous and obsessive relationship as an undergraduate and for whom he evidently still carried a torch. When the police learn of once and maybe not-so- former connection to Kellen, she and her husband come under some suspicion.

But when Julia learns from a colleague at the divinity school that Kellen had angered several people in nearby Landing and later discovers he had left cryptic messages and clues in gifts for her all over the country, she begins to nose around on her own. Her snooping annoys the townsfolk, as well as a shady telelawyer and certain individuals at the university, especially after the official investigation is mysteriously closed a few days after the murder, the killing chalked up by police to a robbery gone bad, the perpetrator in the wind and, incredibly, presumed not worth pursuing. Althoughthe driven amateur is not a new convention in crime fiction, and perspective as amember of the black elite is fascinating, she seems, at first blush, to be a problematic protagonist. She wallows in her past relationship with Kellen for far too many pages, and her understandable concern for her daughter, who seems obsessed with the fate of a white teenager killed in town some 20 years before, grows wearisome. Moreover, observations of Ladybugs and Empyreals are so rambling that they threaten to derail the attention from important plot points.

And a lot of plot, so much that readers may need an organizational chart to keep track of the various and nefarious people and connections presented. a relief when Carter introduces Bruce of Ladybug club member Grace Vallely and director of campus safety. A former detective and, conveniently, a veteran of the special forces, Bruce reports to a fussy university administrator who seems to have an inordinate interest in protecting moneyed alumni not unlike powerful former roommates. After some protracted plot machinations, in which Carter manages to set up Bruce to pursue the case on his own, England finds its loping stride as an intellectual, wordy, character-laden thriller but a thriller nonetheless. And it is on that level that England fails to satisfy, not because of its length (Caleb and Instance of the come to mind) or the complex conspiracy at its heart, but because of the heavy- handed plotting and deductive leaps of faith the novel asks of readers that become hard to stomach.

That said, one must acknowledge that Carter is a thoughtful writer whose wide- ranging intelligence and insights traverse terrain that encompasses campus intrigue, economic theory, political dirty tricks, religion, antique mirrors, anagrams and more. Notably, his dissection of the black elite and the hidebound traditions that both define and obsess them are astutely observed and just biting enough to be entertaining. But for all of England virtues, one wishes, as one did with first novel, for that discerning editor who could hone this diamond in the rough into the sparkler lurking inside. Paula L. Woods, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, is the author of the Det.

Charlotte Justice novels, including, most recently, Thriller set among the black elite lacks polish Thriller, from Page E1 New England White A Novel Stephen L. Carter Alfred A. Knopf: 562 $26.95 Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (June 18-24) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 283.5 million potential viewers in the U.S.

ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 Got Talent (Tue.) NBC12.51 2 Dateline: NBC 3 Deal or No Deal 4 Law Order: SVU 5 NCISCBS9.35 --------------------------------------------6 CSICBS9.30 7 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? FOX9.24 8 Two and a Half MenCBS9.24 9 So You Think You Can Dance (Wed.) FOX9.17 10 CSI: MiamiCBS9.09 --------------------------------------------11 So You Think You Can Dance (Thu.) FOX8.97 12 60 MinutesCBS8.52 13 SharkCBS8.23 14 100 Years, 100 CBS7.71 15 Cold CaseCBS7.64 --------------------------------------------16 KitchenFOX7.57 17 How I Met Your MotherCBS7.41 18 Age of LoveNBC6.93 19 Stone: Death in CBS6.88 20 48 Hours Mystery --------------------------------------------21 Without a TraceCBS6.63 22 Dateline: NBC 23 HouseFOX6.58 24 Without a Trace 25 Numb3rsCBS6.22 --------------------------------------------26 The Next Best ThingABC6.21 27 American InventorABC6.12 28 Last Comic Standing 5 (9p.m.) NBC5.98 29 48 Hours Mystery 30 Pirate MasterCBS5.88 --------------------------------------------31 Law Order: SVU 32 33 The UnitCBS5.73 34 Close to HomeCBS5.70 35 Wife SwapABC5.54 --------------------------------------------36 La Fea Bella 37 1 vs. 100NBC4.88 38 Destilando Amor 39 La Fea Bella 40 Most Wanted FOX4.82 --------------------------------------------41 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC4.80 42 Destilando Amor 43 La Fea Bella 44 Law Order 45 La Fea Bella --------------------------------------------46 Destilando Amor 47 Family GuyFOX4.59 48 Dateline: NBC 49 Dateline: NBC Destilando Amor --------------------------------------------La Fea Bella 52 TravelerABC4.47 53 Studio 60on Sunset StripNBC4.45 54 The Office (8:45 p.m.)NBC4.33 55 Old ChristineCBS4.32 --------------------------------------------56 Ghost WhispererCBS4.27 57 The Office (9:30 p.m.)NBC4.22 58 Creature ComfortsCBS4.20 59 Boston LegalABC4.18 60 Wonderful World of Disney ABC4.14 --------------------------------------------61 The Office (8 p.m.)NBC4.09 62 Anatomy (10p.m.)ABC4.07 63 Cops (8:40 p.m.)FOX4.06 64 Yo Amo Juan Querendon (Tue.) UNI4.05 Destilando Amor --------------------------------------------66 Ugly BettyABC4.04 67 SupernannyABC4.03 68 Yo Amo Juan Querendon (Mon.) UNI3.94 69 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC3.92 70 Friday Night SmackdownCW3.85 --------------------------------------------71 The Ex-Wives ClubABC3.83 72 Yo Amo Juan Querendon (Wed.) UNI3.80 73 Last Comic Stand 5 (8p.m.) NBC3.78 74 The Simpsons 75 According to Jim ABC3.75 --------------------------------------------76 The Simpsons 77 Got Talent (Sat.) NBC3.67 78 Duelo de Pasiones 79 Yo Amo Juan Querendon (Fri.) UNI3.59 80 Primer ImpactoUNI3.55 --------------------------------------------81 Anatomy (9 p.m.)ABC3.52 82 Don Francisco PresentaUNI3.45 According to Jim (9 p.m.)ABC3.45 84 National Bingo NightABC3.44 85 BonesFOX3.41 --------------------------------------------86 CristinaUNI3.39 Duelo de Pasiones 88 StandoffFOX3.36 89 Yo Amo Juan Querendon (Thu.) UNI3.18 Desperate HousewivesABC3.18 --------------------------------------------Las VegasNBC3.18 92 Duelo de Pasiones 93 Duelo de Pasiones 94 Ver Para CreerUNI3.10 95 American DadFOX3.07 --------------------------------------------96 The Loop (9:30 p.m.)FOX3.06 97 Aqui AhoraUNI3.04 98 Cars Superstars ABC3.03 99 Duelo de Pasiones 100 Kyle XYABC2.84 --------------------------------------------101 George LopezABC2.71 102 The Loop (8:30 p.m.)FOX2.66 Brothers SistersABC2.66 104 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX2.62 105 King of the HillFOX2.57 --------------------------------------------106 Cine Especial Sun (9p.m.) UNI2.51 107 On the LotFOX2.48 108 Cops (8 p.m.)FOX2.34 109 Cars Superstars ABC2.16 110 Sabado GiganteUNI2.04 --------------------------------------------111 SupernaturalCW2.02 112 Reba (7:30 p.m.)CW1.95 113 SmallvilleCW1.91 114 Cine Especial Sun (7p.m.) UNI1.90 115 Everybody Hates ChrisCW1.80 --------------------------------------------116 GirlfriendsCW1.69 117 All of UsCW1.66 118 Hidden Palms (9 p.m.)CW1.54 119 The Loop (7:30 p.m.)FOX1.52 120 The GameCW1.49 --------------------------------------------121 Gilmore GirlsCW1.46 122 Hora PicoUNI1.43 123 Reba (7 p.m.)CW1.40 124 Hidden Palms (8 p.m.)CW1.28 125 Veronica MarsCW1.19 --------------------------------------------126 Zorro 127 7th HeavenCW1.13 128 Esclava Isaura 129 Zorro 130 Marina --------------------------------------------131 Esclava Isaura SupernaturalCW1.08 133 Esclava Isaura 134 Dame Chocolate 135 Zorro --------------------------------------------136 Marina Marina Esclava Isaura 139 Zorro 140 Zorro --------------------------------------------141 Dame Chocolate 142 Marina 143 Esclava Isaura Nuestro: 145 Marina --------------------------------------------146 Dame Chocolate 147 Cine MillonarioTEL0.84 148 Dame Chocolate 149 Dame Chocolate 150 Cinemundo del SabadoTEL0.76 --------------------------------------------151 Cine en FamiliaTEL0.58 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date CBS7.0611.63 NBC6.338.29 FOX5.559.73 ABC4.049.17 UNI3.443.62 CW1.872.98 TEL0.940.88 From City News Service Atalent show, a royal interview, a game show and a drama rerun enabled NBC to sweep the top four places on the weekly television ratings list, while ABC sunk to a record low in viewer- ship, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

For the third consecutive week, Got was the most-watched prime- time program between June 18 and Sunday, drawing 12.51 million viewers, the third-largest audience in its two seasons. Matt interview with Prince William and Prince Harry was second with 12.21 million, largest audience since the Jan. 4, 2005, telecast featuring an interview with Amber Frey, former girlfriend of convicted killer Scott Peterson. The game show or No was 12.06 million, followed by a rerun of Special Victims with 9.46 million. The premiere of the NBC dating series of drew 6.93million viewers, retaining the 12.06 million watching the or No episode that preceded finish 18th for the week and third in its 9-to-10 p.m.

time period on June 18. Acombination of several factors led ABC to average 4.04 million viewers for its prime-time programming, its least amount of viewers for a week since Nielsen began using its People Meter system in September 1987. The San Antonio four- game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals cost ABC two nights of highly watched programming had the series gone to the seven-game limit. and continue the trend dating back to the 1980s heyday of of serialized hits whose summer reruns fare poorly in the ratings. Two reruns, which aired in place on what would have been Game 7 of the NBA Finals, were 62nd and 82nd for the 4.07 million and 3.53 million, while was 91st for the 3.18 million.

ABC, which have a program among the top 25, was also hurt by the absence of a breakout summer unscripted series. For the fourth time in the four weeks of summer season, CBS was the most- watched network, averaging 7.06million viewers. Prime-Time TV Rankings NBC sweeps top 4 spots; ABC hits low By Robert Lloyd Times Staff Writer When I was small in what was still a Cold War world, you could sell me anything that is to say, you could get me to beg my parents to buy me anything simply by putting the word on it. would work too.) There was a lot of that aroundthen, as there is a lot of it around now, but these days mostly dressed in the dark raiment of what for the foreseeable future will be known as Iam, however, more a sort of person. You can have your torture-absorbing Jack Bauers warding off the new-millennium terrorists of your bad dreams.

take Jeffrey Donovanas Michael Westen in delightful new action comedy Westen is a freelance CIA subcontractor who finds himself suddenly cut dead and, for not yet explicable reasons, stuck in Miami, his bank accounts frozen, credit cards canceled and his mother calling on his cellphone. Strictly speaking, it a spy show at all, but a kind of detective series featuring a fantastically overqualified hero, with running secondary story lines in which Westen will attempt to unravel the source of his problems, both professional and personal. demotion takes him happily (for me) out of the realm of national security (and is more of a piece with the made-up spies of my youth, who fought mostly stateless su- percriminals and did it with something like a light heart, a sense of fun and a dry ironic wit that crackled even under attack. Created by Matt Nix, whose most visible previous works are his short films and the Big parody) and the Pirandelloesque the show floats along on a narration that sounds remarkably convincing. We learn how to make a listening device from two cellphones; that a fight you have to be careful not to break all the little bones in your hand on that when housebreaking want to look like a legitimate that a best friend is ahardware store.

Perhaps all true. Westen is a damaged person. bad childhood is the perfect background for covert ops you trust anyone, used to getting smacked around and you never get But he is also a good person, as demonstrated by his helping a child learn to deal with a bully a minor sentimental misstep but accomplished with some humor and the fact that he is powerless to resist his mother into my A superb Sharon Glessbuilds unexpected layers into the role. The dialogueis always to the point, yet it gives even the bit players enough room to create something memorable. The Russian nightclub owner (another former spy), the money launderer, the art dealer, the FBI agents on trail all are made vivid in short order.

There is also the recurring pleasure of lantern-jawed genre icon Bruce Campbell(the movies) as an agent turned serial gigolo. Gabrielle an ex-IRA bank robber and ex-girlfriend seems to have been created out of a lingering erotic memory of Natascha McElhonein John Franken- that is not abad thing. There are also some girls in bikinis. robert.lloyd@latimes.com TELEVISION REVIEW This spy is out in the cold Dan Littlejohn USA Network MAN: Jeffrey Donovan portrays Michael Westen. In Jeffrey character has a dark past and uncertain future.

Where: USA When: 10 to 11 p.m. Thursday Rating: TV-PG-V (may be unsuitable for young children, with an advisory for violence) 07BR077 HEBE Beahappycamper. Getthedownanddirtyon thebestplacestohikeand pitchyourtent. Sundays in print. Online at travel.latimes.com travel.