SECRET HUNTERS

Guiding tourists in Antarctica, explorer Fiennes stumbles on a diary kept by Derek Jacobs as he waits for rescue in a shelter. Jacobs has followed the man responsible for killing most of his family during the Holocaust as he also searches for (fool's) gold in a forbidding land. The hunt is interrupted by lengthy recountings of atrocities in Germany, Cambodia, and Rwanda. Christopher Kay is thoroughly believable as the voices of Jacobs and his elderly aunt, as well as German guards, Asian women, Africans, and Brits. Despite, or maybe because of, the smashing narration, this is not an entertaining listen. You will either be turned off or anesthetized by the gruesome scenes, many of which seem unnecessary. It would be a shame to miss the Antarctic section, though, as it is vivid and educational. An introduction and epilogue by Fiennes explain why this is classified as fiction, even if most of it is true. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]