MESSAGE FROM VENUS

After Rose's father vanishes, her mother takes in boarders, only to find that three of them appear to be space aliens. Rather than attempting a multitude of voices, other than the gentle Irish lilt of Uncle Pat, Forsyth allows the characters' personalities to grow and change through subtle tone shifts and emotional responses. Reading the story as an enlivened narrative, Forsyth keeps the action animated, while simultaneously capturing the tone of eerie uncertainty permeating the plot. Sustaining the grief over the father's loss, Forsyth breaks the growing gloom at the end with a welcome resurgence of life's continuation. A story made compelling by Forsyth's performance. P.A.J. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 99]