FOREVER

An Irish lad who is half-Jewish yet steeped in Celtic tradition sails to Colonial America to wreak vengeance upon the person and progeny of the nobleman responsible for his parents' deaths. He befriends a slave, an African shaman, who grants him immortality. But to retain it, he must never leave Manhattan. So for the next several hundred years he participates in New York history while taking his revenge on his antagonist's descendents. Finally, after nearly 24 hours of narrative, comes September 11. Chock full of anachronisms, this very uneven and overlong fantasy is given an equally uneven and often ponderous reading by Henry Strozier. He often jumps to life in the dialogue scenes. When the talking stops, he trudges through the text until some exciting action animates him again. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]