CITY OF THE BEASTS

In a style reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isabel Allende takes listeners to an Amazon jungle that might well have come from the pages of AMAZING STORIES. Fifteen-year-old Alexander is sent to stay with a less than pleasant grandmother. Grandma is about to go off with the International Geographic to track down the elusive yeti, and Alexander is obliged to go along to the rainforest whether he wants to or not. He befriends a local girl named Nadia and shortly thereafter is kidnapped by Indians. As the story rockets from one adventure to the next, Blair Brown delivers a superb narration. Without her even, gentle inflection, this might well go off the scale of believability; however, her mellifluous voice is a pleasure to listen to, and she has a skillful knack for creating memorable characters that helps create credibility. Brown adds just what this story needs. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]