MAN OVERBOARD

Steven Crossley is ideally suited to narrate this paradoxical, thought-provoking novel about a Briton who might be a Russian turncoat. Inspired by the real-life mystery of why WWII hero Commander Lionel Crabb disappeared during Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 visit to England, the story weaves surprising, often funny threads of loyalty and idealism. Crossley perfectly catches Commander Crabb's ironic narrative voice, even pitching it recognizably slightly younger in the flashback sections. Crossley is equally adept with a wide range of other characters, from Turkish fishermen to Italian women to Russian interrogators. The pace, too, is just right for a man trying to understand and explain why he did what he did. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 07]