VANISHING ACTS

Jodi Picoult's formula puts ordinary people in extraordinary dilemmas, the story told by the alternating voices of the people involved. Having different actors voice the major characters is ideal, and all here are excellent, from the supple but mature voice of paterfamilias Andrew Hopkins, who turns out to have kidnapped his daughter decades earlier, to the daughter, now known as Delia, who is a young mother herself. Picoult dovetails the narratives neatly and rations the plot turns expertly, building to a fine courtroom finale. One regrets that the cast list is given only on audio. Would it be impossible to give the actors credit in print, when it is due, as it is here? B.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 05]