SHELL GAME

The one sin Germaine is not guilty of is thoughtlessness in her reading of O'Connell's mystery. It's clear that she is making deliberate choices in her technique of whispering to convey inner thoughts, for example, and in her careful delineation of a number of characters, all of roughly the same age and from the same region. Still, she makes unfortunate mistakes, the most serious of which are clichéd characterizations. The intricately woven thriller begins with the recreation of a trick by a legendary magician that this time ends in death. NYPD detective Kathleen Mallory is convinced it's no accident; she thinks the murder is connected to an earlier killing during WWII. The involving story is hampered by Germaine's exaggerated efforts, which only drain suspense from the plot. M.O. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]