THE EDGE OF DISASTER

Stephen Flynn's book is an important piece of policy research. He has gathered an impressive array of facts to make his point--that American society is dangerously non-resilient and courts catastrophe by being unprepared for and unable to recover from major disasters, both natural and man-made. With a weighty topic like this and Flynn's effective, if sometimes repetitive, writing style, an audiobook should be a good fit. Unfortunately, Dick Hill's speech pattern is at times choppy, at times sluggishly overwrought, at times plagued by mispronounced words. In the end, it's not appropriate for over seven hours of serious and sometimes complex political/policy fare. Despite the impressive credentials of both the author and narrator, this production falls short. T.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]