ABSOLUTE RAGE

Tanenbaum is "one of the country's most respected and successful trial lawyers," according to the dust cover. Maybe, but he doesn't seem to have ever met actual human beings. Never in this supposed legal thriller is a listener ever in danger of confusing any of Tanenbaum's characters with real people. Adults are remarkably self-satisfied, children incredibly self-possessed. A New York family of precocious youngsters and their lawyer parents are drawn into the aftermath of the assassination of a West Virginia union leader and his family. So unlikable and absurd are the characters and the plot that, in fairness, Nick Sullivan never has much chance to shine. Nevertheless, nothing he does numbs the bad experience of Tanenbaum's book. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 03]