IRON ORCHID

Holly Barker, ex-M.P. and more recently small town police chief, moves up with recruitment by the CIA. Her training moves fast; in fact, she's put into the field to help catch an ex-Agency rogue terrorist before her Virginia course is complete. Carrington MacDuffie is a good storyteller, and she easily steps into Barker's persona, capturing her intuitive style and her appealing grit and determination. However, MacDuffie doesn't give quite enough character delineation to help listeners keep the array of FBI, CIA, and NYPD cops completely sorted out, and following who is speaking is often hard. The cloak-and-dagger story of catching a "trained agent gone bad" and MacDuffie's good pacing and tempo do make this a solid entry in Woods's evolving series. R.F.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]