THE GOLDEN ONE

Victorian adventuress Amelia Peabody is back in the fourteenth of this popular series, read with giddy brilliance by Barbara Rosenblat. It's 1917, the Great War is ravaging throughout Europe and Asia, and Peabody and her husband, Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson, are chasing tomb robbers in Luxor. Meanwhile, their son, British spy Ramses Emerson, travels to Gaza on a dangerous mission of his own. Plot-wise, the story is weak and somewhat muddled. But Peters's real talent is in creating lovably eccentric characters whom Rosenblat nimbly brings to life. Rosenblat displays her versatile talents by giving voice to British explorers, American scoundrels, Egyptian muftis, and Turkish spies. A very entertaining romp in the Middle East. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]