THE THIRD STORY Robert J. Janes. Markham (ON), PaperJacks, c1983. 288pp, paper, $3.95. ISBN 0-7701-0226-3. Adult. Reviewed by Leslie A. McGrath. Volume 11 Number 4. 1983 July. Like his earlier works The Toy Shop (PaperJacks, 1981) and The Watcher,* J. Robert Janes' latest novel is a horror-suspense thriller, set rather vaguely in modem Toronto. The plot, too complex to be summed up in few words, concerns a popular writer named Robin Morris whose tales of brutal rape-murders seem bizarrely close to actual events. During the course of the novel, it becomes apparent that what Robin writes comes true; hence his dilemma when he falls in love with Heather, the living heroine of his novel-in-progress, and desperately tries to save her from what seems a grisly preordained fate. Innumerable twists and coincidences complicate the plot, and few of them are adequately explained. Janes does achieve a constant mood of suspense through his cliff-hanger style of divided narration. His efforts to make the characters in the story three-dimensional and believable fail, however, because their thoughts and actions are unnaturally contorted to support the far-fetched and sensational plot. The gratuitous violence and sadistic images that abound in this book will offend many readers. Not recommended. *Reviewed vol. XI/1 January 1983 p.15. Leslie A. McGrath, Toronto, ON.