NINE MINUTES, TWENTY SECONDS The Tragedy and Triumph of ASA Flight 529

Living second by second through a commuter airline's crash as many passengers are burned in the subsequent fire makes quite a story, and Boyd Gaines does a lot to improve the text. Using different voices for quotes and appropriately changing the pitch and tone of his narration, he creates an audiobook ideal for readers more interested in fact than fiction. There are skillfully written mini-biographies of most of the passengers, relatives, and crew involved in the disaster, and their eventual interactions with each other provide a gripping and satisfying drama, played out for years afterward. Even if you usually don't like abridgments, six hours about nine minutes works out perfectly. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]