Southampton as you've not seen it in 'Voyeur'

'Voyeur" has all the makings of a good cable movie: an intriguing idea, a strong plot, a sharp central character and a photogenic setting - the Hamptons. Southampton, in particular, is where our man Remer has been living after suffering a near-literal case of burnout as a private detective. While working a case, he was kidnapped and the word "voyeur" was seared into his chest.

That has to hurt. What hurts even more is that after opening a liquor store in Southampton, he falls in love with Mia, an employee who, during a tempestuous romance, steals 80 grand from him and heads for the hills. Fast-forward a few years and Mama of Mia comes knocking on his door asking him to find her. She'll return the money her daughter stole if successful. Still carrying the flame, and egged on by a policewoman who also wants to find Mia, Remer goes for it. Adding to the intrigue: Mom says Mia is plotting to kill her.

Obsessive love, matricide, sex and violence in Southampton. We're there, particularly when it turns out that it's hard to tell who's scamming whom. Unfortunately, Judson can't keep it going. Halfway through, the plot stops building on itself when the convolutions get tiresome and hard to follow.

Worse, Judson's narrative reads more like a screenplay than a novel. As long as he sticks to basic prose, he's fine, but, whenever he reaches for something extra, you wish he hadn't: "Smith's grip is, of course, fast and firm. He has blue eyes that seek out Remer's with a directness bordering on assertion." Italicized comments about Remer's thought processes are equally clunky: "Sorrow - real sorrow - is best kept hidden."

Judson would have done better directing his purple prose at trying to make the Hamptons come alive during the Christmas season in which it takes place. As it is, "Voyeur" could be set in Colorado or Oregon without too much trouble.

Still, Remer's an interesting character, even if Judson doesn't go deep into his psyche. He's a modern-day version of the sheriff who hangs up his guns before it's too late, only to be lured back for another rush of adrenaline. Will he, or anyone connected to the case, get out alive?

It might have made a decent Long Island beach read next summer. But you're probably better off waiting for the USA or Lifetime movie, if one gets made. Judson won a Shamus award for a previous L.I. crime novel, "The Violet Hour," but there's little cause for celebration with "Voyeur."

VOYEUR, by Daniel Judson. Minotaur Books, 262 pp., $24.99