HOPE

A phone call in the night, a stranger covered in blood at the door-- Deighton launches another of his Bernard Sampson spy novels. This time Sampson is drawn into investigating his Polish brother-in-law's suspicious activities in Poland and England. Then, to Sampson's dismay, his boss, Dicky Crier, decides to handle the investigation. Their cynical sparring sets a trap that narrator Robert Whitfield falls into almost immediately. It would be hard to read the interchanges without giving Crier a note of buffoonery. For the listener anticipating a good spy "read," such a rendering tends to stall the plot. Otherwise, this is a clear, competent performance, offering quality enjoyment. S.B.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]