DANGEROUS SKIES

Buck Smith and Tunes Smith were raised together as their families worked the Virginia Shore farm for generations. However, their youthful companionship changes when Buck, the son of the white farm owner, and Tunes, African-American daughter of Kneebone Smith, find the body of one of the farm's managers. Peter MacNicol brings a warm and youthful energy to Buck's narrative, helping listeners to further identify with the young people. He's good with the dialogue and couples this with dramatic tension, playing up a Huck Finn independence and lawlessness in the story. MacNicol draws out "Conroy-esque" imagery in the loving descriptions of the land and shore. (MacNicol also narrated Pat Conroy's Beach Music.) R.F.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 97]