OBLIVION

An articulate story with thoroughly original characters read by an appealing narrator will make this a listener favorite. After a brain hemorrhage, PI Nick Petrov tries to remember the case he's been working on. Confused and weakened, he digs his way into the puzzle, somehow knowing that his healing depends upon finding the solution. Narrator Ken Marks makes Petrov a satisfying hard-boiled hero. The author deftly mirrors the speech and behavior of a brain trauma victim through halting language, interior monologue, and flashback, and Marks makes it work with his urgent staccato delivery. The precise, unadorned prose and Marks's understated, controlled performance result in a thoroughly engrossing mystery that listeners won't want to miss. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]