SOMETHING ROTTEN

While young horror junkies may relish this tale of mayhem, the production's flaws outweigh its benefits. This multivoiced audiobook features an appealing reader for the main character, Joe, who, along with his brother, Gary, discovers sparkling red cave specimens hatching into hostile "attack blobs." While the multiple narrators allow for a refreshing absence of dialogue tags, there are still weaknesses. Gary's voice is persistently quiet and muffled, and Joe speaks too fast. Further, Joe's delivery of narrative lacks inflection. Greater attention to sound editing would have made this entry in the Strange Matters series more cohesive. To its credit, the abridgment is well handled. C.A. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 07]