COVER OF NIGHT

In Trail Stop, Idaho, there's no cell phone service, the residents get only fuzzy TV reception, and there's just one way in and out of town. When a group of dangerous men takes the town hostage--positioning snipers in the surrounding hills and cutting phone lines and any hope of escape--bed-and-breakfast owner Cate Nightingale and handyman Cal Harris rally the locals to band together to fend off the siege. Dick Hill and Joyce Bean's excellent performances transform predictable plotting into entertaining listening. Hill makes one-dimensional characters substantial, and Bean makes annoyingly precocious 4-year-olds tolerable. Thanks to Bean and Hill, listeners should enjoy Howard's latest. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]