VERITAS

With the hard-boiled slickness of Raymond Chandler, William Lashner socks Veritas to audiobook audiences. Victor Carl is a criminal defense attorney who owes a big favor to crime family leader Enrico Rafaello: his life. He makes his living getting Rafaello's criminals off the hook. Until he meets Caroline Shaw, that is, a waifish heiress who believes her sister's death was mob-related and wants Carl to help her solve the case. Ken Howard slings Lashner's lines with all the panache of Humphrey Bogart. His female voices tend to get breathy, but that doesn't detract. More than anything, Veritas is a contemporary mystery with an old-fashioned feel. R.A.P. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV/DEC 97]