DEAD MAN TALKING

The Battle of Britain in WWII calls Captain Jack Clark to the Barent Sea in the North Atlantic. Commanding a secret antisubmarine whaler named SHERBA, Clark seeks a new “super U-boat” called a submarine cruiser. The ship and the U-boat meet ten hours into the story for the first action, and battle ensues. Speaking with British upper-class haughtiness, Michael Tudor Barnes frosts his characters with Norwegian, German, and Irish accents. His deep voice, however, makes all the women sound androgynous and hirsute. The slow pace of both the story and the reader could effect a sure cure for the worst case of insomnia. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]