INTO THIN AIR

Twenty years after first running for sheriff of Aspen's Pitkin County, former hippie Kurt Muller may finally have had enough. There's the murder of Argentine journalist Omar Quiroga, killed before he could present his talk on the Dirty War to the Global Unity Conference; the disappearance of Quiroga's friend Dr. Graciela Rojas from under Kurt's nose; the stonewalling of FBI agents determined to shut Kurt out of Quiroga's murder and pin Graciela's murder on him if they can; and the clues that link the case to untouchable Italian diplomat Claudio Rostagno and his coked-up daughter, Cecilia, who likes bench presses and rough sex. It isn't long before Kurt up and quits his job, leaving him free to tend full-time to problems on the home front: his shattered marriage, the lies he's telling his son to protect his ex-wife, and the irresistible hints that this whole mess is connected to an even bigger, more personal mess from Aspen's pastand Kurt's. Can newcomer Zigal juggle all these subplots gracefully, sorting out past secrets and present-day threats? Absolutely not. But you're bound to be impressed watching him run through enough material to fuel a whole series.