THE THREAT

There's a lot more to this plot, and the narrator’s performance, than first meets the ear. For starters, Presidential Aide Dan Lenson seems very much like a cross between Clancy's Jack Ryan and Koontz's Jake Grafton. Like the two popular heroes, Lenson hunts terrorists and Latin drug bosses. But there's an edge to Lenson, played to the hilt by Ray Porter, that doesn't materialize until you're halfway through this thriller. Writer and narrator take listeners from tense moments, as when the presidential helicopter Marine 1 drops like a rock, to the appalling sadness of scenes involving orphaned and starving children in a third-world country. Porter conveys every emotional instant without missing a beat. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]