Brown, SandraIdentical twins are fair game for a thriller writer, and in TheSwitch, queen of suspense Sandra Brown (The Alibi, Standoff, Fat Tuesday) makes the most ofan intricate setup involving Gillian and Melina Lloyd, a pair of thirtysomethingDallas beauties. When Gillian hears her biological clock ticking, sheputs herself in the hands of the world-famous Waters Clinic and is artificiallyinseminated (as described in a somewhat plodding first chapter that omits nodetail of the procedure). The action picks up when Gillian switches places withher twin, a media escort, and chauffeurs sexy astronaut Chief Hart around town.It turns out to be a fatal attraction, and suspicion falls on Chief whenGillian's mutilated body is found the next day. The dead woman's smarmy and enigmatic boyfriend, Jem Hennings, has a vestedinterest in focusing police efforts on Hart, but Melina has her own reasons forthinking him wrong. Jem's connection with a charismatic preacher known asBrother Gabriel is at the heart of this mildly creepy mystery, in which theplucky Melina tracks Brother Gabriel to his lair and uncovers his diabolicalplot while simultaneously revealing her own dark secret. The ending istelegraphed well in advance, but that won't deter Brown's many fans fromrelishing the details, including some sex scenes that are spicier than most ofthe florid prose that usually turns up in romantic thrillers of this sort. Butthat may be why the author inevitably rockets to the top of the bestsellerlist, where The Switch is destined to land. --Jane Adams