A FAST AND BRUTAL WING

A four-person ensemble cast weaves Johnson's complex narrative of email messages, newspaper accounts, journal entries, and personal essays that reveal clues to the mysterious happenings of one Halloween night and the truth about a "strange" adolescent brother and sister. A palpable sense of transformation from human to animal is conveyed through voices that seem to purr like a cat or fly like a hawk as the fantastical drama unfolds. The voice of Niki, the younger sibling, skillfully dominates with her version of events that led up to a fateful night in the woods. Her voice becomes increasingly sinister as the novel builds to its climax. D.P.M. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]