ORBIT

Author/narrator John J. Nance strikes a good balance in ORBIT, his book about a space tourist marooned in low-Earth orbit. This is good news because the book is largely an extended soliloquy by the tourist, as he writes about his life and experiences in space on a laptop connected to the Internet. Nance is somewhat weak when it comes to differentiating characters, but, as these are only a small part of the book, that's not a problem. The publishers use special effects to simulate radio transmissions from the spacecraft, which adds to the realism. The book's pace is good, and tension builds as the tourist struggles to bring the craft back to Earth himself. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]