THE OATH

A thriller by the popular Lescroart, featuring lawyer Dismas Hardy and Detective Abe Glitsky, usually promises a cohesive story that will hold your attention. This time, but for Robert Lawrence's skilled performance, this listener would not have made it to the climax, which is the one compelling event in the plot. The familiar pair team up to find out why, while a patient in his own hospital, an administrator is killed with a potassium overdose. Lawrence's enthusiastic voice and performance carry the story even at its weakest moments. His sometimes frenetic narration seems calculated to move the listener on. It's as if he knows that a slower pace would result in utter boredom. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]