STRANGE PIECE OF PARADISE A Return to the American West to Investigate My Attempted Murder--and to Solve the the Riddle of Myself

In 1977, Jentz and a biking companion were brutally attacked in an Oregon park; years later she returned to investigate the unprosecuted crime. Margaret Colin's reading is generally vivid and emotive though she wisely relates horrors in a still voice more powerful than any histrionics. However, in an effort to vary expression, her voice often dips and swoops, or seems inappropriately perky. The accents she provides Northwesterners vary from none (i.e., she uses her own natural speech) to rural, Southern, and the simply peculiar. When the prose turns purple, Colin exacerbates its melodrama. Further, she has a noticeable lisp, which can be distracting. The text alone is annoying enough, without the difficulties added by the performance. W.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]