Done for a Dime. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)

DAVID CORBEIT. Ballantine, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-345-44753-0

Corbett (The Devil's Redhead) again uses some of the traditional tools of genre fiction in bold new ways in his sharp and exceptionally poignant second suspense novel. The feeling of a community tinder siege--in this case, a shabby but lively multiracial town called Rio Mirada, just north of San Francisco--comes straight from Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, as concerned citizens and families trying to live decently come underattack from the forces of organized greed. There's a touch of Jim Thompson in the main villain, a hired thug calling himself Richard Ferry, who turns out not to be quite as detestable as …