LAZY EYE

The acute tension of the protagonist in this novel is conveyed aptly in a terse British accent by Razaaq Adoti. The rapid speech of the angry youngster contrasts with the slow pace of the story, which is told mostly as the internal monologue of an adult looking back at his childhood. Both of these qualities make Adoti's sensitivity to the main character necessary for the listener, who might otherwise lose interest. The storyteller, who reflects on racial politics in England in the 1970s--which ruined his father's life--is full of roiling emotions. Adoti tells the story with feeling, conveying a sense of injustice at the waste of what could have been one of the best football players in England's history. M.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2008]