LIARS & THIEVES

When you first listen to Guerin Barry's announcer-like voice, you expect a solid, no-frills performance. Listen a while longer, and you get much more. Barry is adept at accents and offbeat characters, and the story gives him a lot to work with. Tommy Carmellini, the burglar turned CIA operative introduced by Coonts in LIBERTY, finds deception and murder at every turn as he searches for a defecting KGB archivist. He's joined by another favorite character, Jake Grafton, now a retired admiral. Most of the time Barry moves his characters with the deliberateness of a docudrama. But when he depicts the Russian, you can almost see a potbellied gentleman in a heavy overcoat and fur hat. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]