THE HELL SCREEN

While rushing home to the capital to visit his dying mother, nobleman Sugawara Akitada stumbles upon a gruesome mutilation and murder. Compelled to investigate, Akitada follows a trail of clues while struggling with evolving familial relationships. Roy Vongtama portrays Akitada with a stark subtlety that mirrors the cold winter landscape of Parker's eleventh-century Japan. His narration is often emotionally restrained—an adept performance reflects the upper-class Japanese mores. Vongtama voices Akitada with an American accent, letting Parker's words weave their own historically rich and culturally vivid tones. Vongtama amps up the drama, however, with animated minor characters, including a sadistic painter, a brazen female wrestler, and a woman whose lips were cut off when she was attacked by the novel's elusive killer. J.T. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]