SAMARITAN

A white TV writer returns to the "projects" to become a volunteer creative writing teacher. After an assailant nearly kills him, he refuses to identify his attacker. It's up to his black female schoolmate of yore, now a cop nearing retirement, to ferret out the truth. The author uses this schema to touch on issues of race, integrity, loyalty, and poverty. He has a playwright's ear for dialogue and has drawn some memorable characters, whom actor Richard Allen plays vividly. In a soft baritone and steady cadence, Allen tiptoes gingerly through the narrative. He clearly enjoys wrapping his tongue around the passages of street language. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]