CEREMONY IN DEATH

In the near future (2058) of this science fiction police procedural, NYPD Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the death of a fellow officer, who is suspected of drug dealings with a local coven of Wiccans. Talking-computers and computer jammers help her pursue her witch suspect, who uses the same devices to keep the lieutenant at bay. Emphasis on action over detailed description makes this attention-grabbing abridgment one you sit in the driveway to finish. Transition music and distant voices via phones and intercoms add radio-theater ambiance. As the listener wonders if Dallas's badge will shield her from the witches' knives, the cops, whose characters snap to life in Susan Ericksen's no-nonsense delivery, convince us that evil has met its match. E.V. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]