BESIDE A BURNING SEA

Nine people are marooned on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific in 1942. They are the only survivors of a Red Cross hospital ship torpedoed by the Japanese. Among them are several of the ship's crew, nurses, the captain, his wife, a Japanese prisoner, a stowaway, and a spy. The castaways learn to live together and depend upon one another, but there's a serpent in paradise—and there IS a war going on. The island could be invaded by Japanese troops at any moment. With Richard Poe at the microphone, good-old-fashioned B-movie melodrama becomes an appealing adventure story. Predictable plotting becomes engrossing, and stereotypical behaviors become engaging. In the final chapters, Poe's voice offers a secure port in the not wholly unexpected tropical storm. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2009]