KILLING GROUND

This is an intricate thriller about drug-running and double cross, which includes the Mafia and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Caught in the cat-and-mouse game is Charlotte Parsons, an English schoolteacher and sometime nanny to the Mafioso. Seymour's elliptical plotting and opaque style demand concentration from the listener. Narrator Jonathan Oliver competently keeps us involved and oriented within the complex plot, though the author's abrupt scene changes can confuse even a good listener. American listeners may find the English version of American accents unconvincing, and all the Sicilians tend to sound alike. Otherwise, this is an able delivery of a complicated tale. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 00]