THE NIGHT GARDENER

A pervert with a taste for palindromes is murdering teens with names like Eve and Asa. At night he dumps their violated bodies in public gardens. George Pelecanos has a melodious tough-guy voice. His prose is witty with slang. The cops talk cop, the kids talk ghetto. And so this book is a pleasure to hear. The writer/narrator, however, does not try to give us different accents for different players. This might not have been a problem in a full-length recording. In an abridgment that includes two time periods and features a large cast, the thread is easily lost. But then it all sounds so good, you don't mind listening to it again. And again. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]