THE EYE IN THE DOOR

Peter Firth, known to American fans as the imperious espionage commander in the engaging BBC series "MI-5," is even more austere in his narration of this, the second in Pat Barker's amazing trilogy of WWI novels (known collectively as The Ghost Road trilogy). The austerity is especially effective with the book's most compelling character, the hard-bitten Billy Prior, who is deeply conflicted, and mentally scarred, by the many roles he is called upon to play—lower-class officer among aristocrats, hidden bisexual in a witch-hunting culture, dutiful soldier despite deep allegiance to committed pacifists. Oddly enough, Firth's evident dispassion works to amplify the deep psychic wounds Barker's characters suffer in consequence of the savagery of war. M.O. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]