CHARLIE MUFFIN'S UNCLE SAM

Fugitive spy Charlie Muffin takes on a job for an insurance company, checking security for an exhibit of a priceless Russian stamp collection. He doesn't know the FBI has mounted the exhibit in a plot to nab a stamp-loving Mafia boss. How the slippery Cockney eludes death at the hands of assorted heroes and villains consumes the bulk of this Cold War-era thriller. Although narrator Peter Wickham contributes little commitment to the tale, he reads with an admirable clarity and easiness that brings out the witty humor and mutes the goriness of the climactic carnage. Y.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]