WINTER AND NIGHT

William Dufris is in terrific form in this intricately made thriller about a New Jersey town whose passion for its high school football team has disordered its moral compass. Football heroes are above the law there, and PI Bill Smith is drawn into the resulting mess of bullies and victims by his nephew, who is new in town and has not yet taken leave of his conscience. Dufris has a regrettable way of breaking sentences in illogical places ("I thought I smelled. Freesia, her favorite perfume . . . "), but he's great with the threatening swagger of the bullies and the anger, hopeless or defiant, of the victims as this twisting and layered story builds to its powerful conclusion. B.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]