THE STONEBREAKERS

Here is another addition to the growing caper genre surrounding art works stolen during WWII--unhurried, overlong, dark, reminiscent of Graham Greene and concentrating less on incident than on character. The priceless masterpiece of the title is presumed burned in the firebombing of Dresden but may have actually been spirited out of the country. Naturally, several art mavins are in pursuit. A languid narrator makes the audio seem longer than the text. Stephen Crossley excels at characterization but otherwise makes the listener want to shout, "Get on with it!" Y.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 00]