HOAX

Richard Ferrone's gruff voice is perfect for creating the atmosphere of gangsta-rapper street life . . . it just doesn't happen in this production. Ferrone's talents are wasted on a plot that is slow-paced, pedestrian, pedantic, and filled with flat characters. The "hoax" may reflect more than the title, as the previous 13 Tanenbaum thrillers were actually ghostwritten by Tanenbaum's cousin, Michael Gruber, now writing under his own name. This first novel actually written by Tanenbaum, the implausible story of a psychopathic mayoral candidate and serial pedophile killer, can't be saved even by the talents of the narrator. K.A.T. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]