THE MOSQUITO COAST

Scornful of the American way of life, particularly television, the educational system, fast foods, and pollution, Allie Fox gathers his wife and four children and spirits them away from their home in Massachusetts to build a “better life” in the jungles of Honduras. Narrator David Aaron Baker sounds precisely like a teenage boy who is observing the inexplicable behaviors of his father: careful to keep his censure to himself but wishing only to be ordinary. At first, things in their jungle haven go quite well, but Allie is incapable of compromise. When events take a disastrous turn, Charlie watches his father’s megalomania turn to paranoia. Baker maintains the boy’s innocence as he searches for reasons to continue his admiration of this difficult, delusional man. A must-listen. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2011]