PALINDROME

Plucking his story from today's headlines, Stuart Woods exposes the darker side of professional sports with an engrossing plot. Bake Ramsey, everybody's favorite Georgia running back, turns out to be a closet monster. Ramsey has brutally beaten his wife, gifted photographer Liz Barwick. When she bests him in their divorce settlement, he swears to avenge himself against her and all who helped her. A series of grisly murders follows. While reader Susan Ericksen's pace is energetic and does credit to the characters, her tone doesn't quite capture the excitement as Liz fends off Goliath, a twenty-foot alligator, or the greater terror she experiences when coming face to face with her "ex-" in the final sequence. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]