IN THE PATH OF FALLING OBJECTS

Mike Chamberlain introduces Jonah's narration with a resigned tone. The 16-year-old has been abandoned by his mother with no food or money. His older brother's letters from Vietnam let Jonah know he must be responsible for his younger brother, Simon. When the teenaged boys decide to hitchhike across the Southwest desert to find their father in an Arizona prison, Chamberlain's narration becomes dramatic as soon as Mitch and Lilly pick them up. Stress between the brothers builds as they compete for Lilly's flirtatious attention. And tension mounts with Chamberlain's portrayal of Mitch, a murdering psychopath. At first, Mitch is prickly, but soon he turns menacing and then scary. Chamberlain expresses the boys' reactions as they move from annoyance to fear, and, finally, to determination to survive. S.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2009]