THE FLIGHT OF THE FALCON

If ONLY Daphne du Maurier had written another book as wonderful as REBECCA. Alas, she didn't. This one is no exception. The plot--involving a cruel Italian duke and dual dimensions in time--is convoluted and tiresome. The performance, however, is something else. Narrator James Callis so inhabits the passionate and somewhat bitchy character of the protagonist, a European tour guide, it's as if one has been pulled aside from the tour group and privileged with his secrets. So uncannily real is his portrayal that one cannot quite square the earnest young face on the back of the audio package with the urbane voice coming out of the headphones. If Callis can do this much with such dull material, what could he do with something wonderful? E.K.D. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]