A FIRING OFFENSE

David Ignatius has a way of weaving a devilish web of intrigue with a sense of firsthand experience. Whether or not this new thriller, which involves a news reporter and the CIA, is completely fiction, Washington Post editor Ignatius knows his way around a newsroom. Cotter Smith conveys the same confidence in his narration. The story is told in a flashback, and Smith successfully conveys the first-person narrative and builds the suspense with ease. He's well-cast as the story's narrator and gives listeners the sense that Eric Truell's involvement with CIA sources is being confidentially revealed over a couple of beers at a quiet, obscure rendezvous. R.F.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN 97]