HUSSEIN An Entertainment

Narrator John Lee captivates in this rendition of an early non-seagoing Patrick O'Brian novel. It's a rousing entertainment set in India during the Raj period and featuring the adventures of Hussein, a young mahout (elephant handler). Told in Lee's impressive repertoire of lilting Indian accents, which he intersperses with tellingly class-specific English voices, this tale has it all: passion and love, magic and murder, treasure and elephant lore, and the sights and sounds of the Indian countryside--all written, by the way, before O'Brian had ever visited India. No matter, it works beautifully and is read with edge-of-your-seat conviction. Prepare to be enthralled. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]