Published by Avon, 1998, ISBN 0-380-79516-7, $6.99, 343 pages

Consider White Light to be akin to the transcripts of the Nixon tapes--if you took out the cussing, most of what remains would be "expletive deleted." And that's too bad, because once you move past the cornucopia of cursing--and I couldn't--there's a decent story underneath.

The story, such as it is, consists of random jumps through the universe by a ship of humans fleeing an Earth on the verge of collapse. They meet good aliens and bad, see worlds amazing and bland, and eventually face the end of the universe, in a scene somewhat like that in the Albert Brooks movie, Defending Your Life.

These two authors have collaborated on four novels. I've read two and barring some miracle, won't bother with the other two.