CRUSHER

Narrator Daniel Weyman recounts the fiasco that unfolds after 17-year-old Finn Maguire jogs home from work at a London fast food joint and discovers his stepfather bludgeoned to death. Naturally, he becomes the prime suspect. Weyman generates sympathy for the troubled, angry young man as he tries to prove his innocence and achieve justice for his failed parent. Finn battles well-voiced underworld characters; endures a sudden appearance by his mother, who abandoned him and his father; and copes with a tough cop who seems to "decide what happens and selects evidence to fit." Leonard's action scenes, such as Finn's escape from a car that is in the jaws of a crusher, are recounted by Weyman with surprising credibility and perfect tension. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2013]