THE TIME IN BETWEEN

Ada and Jon comb Vietnam for their missing father, Charles, a troubled veteran who has returned to the scene of a wartime atrocity. Ada hunts doggedly as Jon pursues homosexual liaisons. The story of their quest is periodically interrupted by flashbacks of the father's angst-ridden odyssey. Minor narrative holes may have resulted from abridging the book to four listening hours. As read for the CBC by Michael Hogan (the father's sections) and Tricia Collins (Ada's chapters), melancholy and gloom overwhelm the story. While the former performs serviceably, the latter is a particularly bland reader, whose air of listless hopelessness is relieved only by moments of mild shock. The text has more colors and energy than she invests in it. Y.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 07/ JAN 08]