Beach Blanket Books

New this week:

THE GIFT by Danielle Steel (Delacorte: $15). There are two surprises here; a simultaneous Spanish translation (“El Regalo,” issued in paperback, $9.95) and a more Nineties theme. The venerable love triangle remains at the heart; but it involves the Whittakers, their son Tommy and his pregnant friend Maribeth. (Also available on audio cassette.)

THE FLOATING CITY by Eric Lustbader (Pocket: $22). A sequel to “The Kaisho” and clearly a set-up for the next book. Prepare yourself for our hero’s mysterious “tanjian eye” and his friend’s prosthetic hand (with retractable claws) in Lustbader’s latest Asian thriller. (Also available on audio cassette.)

INTENT TO HARM by Stan Washburn (Pocket: $22). Detailed police procedural about a serial killer terrorizing a college town hones in on the painstaking work it sometimes takes for the police to get their man--sometimes only to watch him slip away. It takes one to know one; the author was a former Berkeley Police reservist.