THE PROMISED LAND

David Hewson fans hoping to get another installment of his Rome series featuring Nic Costa are going to be a bit disappointed because Costa is not featured in this work. This is a stand-alone about an ex-cop imprisoned for 20 years for the murder of his wife and child who is released just before he is to be executed. The plot is quirky and uneven, but the reading is not. William Hope handles the dialogue in a terse manner. His accents are wholly believable even though he seems to speak through his teeth, sounding when he's portraying the main character like an English version of Humphrey Bogart. Nonetheless, Hope's delivery makes this latest from Hewson a pleasurable outing. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2008]