FORTY WORDS FOR SORROW

In this grisly thriller a tainted cop searches for a serial child-killer. A strong constitution for graphic violence is needed to stay with this book, but narrator James Daniels does manage to lighten the tone. Blunt's first novel shows skill with characters and plotting, but is pervasive with violent detail. Daniels doesn't convincingly convey the full menace of the criminals, but perhaps blessedly so--providing some relief. Daniels is quite skilled with some of the personal exchanges between the cops, and the dialogue is full of Canadian vowels and a fine sense of the bone-chilling Algonquin Bay cold. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]