VISITS FROM THE DROWNED GIRL

Benny Poteat is a voyeur, happy to paint the tops of water tanks, change light bulbs on communication towers, and do steeple maintenance hundreds of feet above the ground, far from real life. After witnessing a young woman's suicide, Benny rushes down from his perch, removes all traces of the girl, but inexplicably keeps videotapes she made before she died. While obsessively watching her videos, he gets involved with her family, never letting them know what happened to her. Holter Graham's narration is particularly effective in this way offbeat story. His whispery voice crawls inside the listener's head and rolls around like Benny's secret thoughts or, if he had one, his conscience. Steven Sherrill's second novel is unrelentingly dark, exploring the perverse side of human behavior. Graham's performance is chilling. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]