ACT OF GOD

Pamela Nyberg's soft, low-pitched voice and neutral approach are boons to this politically charged presentation. One hundred-seventy-six people have perished in the bombing of a Seattle clinic that, among many social services, provides abortions. A squeaky clean naval officer whose wife secretly aborted is a likely suspect. Defense attorney Dana McAuliffe must deal with a despised client, an unscrupulous journalist, jurors with agendas, and bosses who don't want her to succeed. This is a long story, full of characters and subplots; most of both will stick with you, thanks to the even-handed and well-paced reading. Some characters get voices, and some don't; male voices are lower, Southern accents appear for fundamentalists, and Nyberg gives the defendant's wife a hard edge to suggest that all is not well there. You probaby won't guess the ending, so keep listening. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]