CRABWALK

Towards the end of WWII, a Russian submarine torpedoes a German ship packed with refugees. As the ship goes down, one of the rescued passengers gives birth to our hero, who is now a middle-aged journalist assigned to investigate the sinking. He finds a neo-Nazi Web site where the incident is discussed in terms of ethnic hatred and discovers that his own 16-year-old son is the perpetrator. Meanwhile, his Marxist mother nags him with her own interpretation. George Guidall, who superbly narrated the Nobel-winning author's classic TIN DRUM, does journeyman's duty here with a rapid staccato style that gives one a vivid sense of the protagonist's discomfort over his nation's past and his family. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]