THE CONFIRMATION

Sometimes a reader can do everything right and still be completely wrong. Such is the case with Guidall in this outing. The novel concerns the confirmation of a new director of the CIA in a Washington recognizable to all: rough, partisan, and circled by a press eager to tear the weak or, better yet, the strong apart. The confirmation becomes endangered when CIA secrets dating back to Vietnam and betrayals nearly as old begin to surface. Guidall is certainly a capable reader, alert to the nuances of character and suspense. Yet this reading cries out for the hard-boiled cynicism that is the norm for power politics, and Guidall's gentle and erudite narrative voice is simply too innocent in this context. M.O. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]