THE DISAPPEARANCE

Is crisp pronunciation and good pacing all you need to enjoy a good story on audio? If so, Cullen delivers the goods as he recounts the murder of young Emma Lancaster and the efforts of Doug Lancaster, her media tycoon father, to see that Emma's accused killer hangs for it. But if you also like your audiobook performers to do real acting and to create distinct voices, you may find this recording wanting. Cullen gives unique voices only to the characters he absolutely has to, as when the author specifies a particular accent. Still, Cullen does enough good work with this involving legal thriller to keep the cassettes flying by, though it would be nice to be able to tell the boys from the girls during long stretches of dialogue. J.P.M. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]