ONE DOOR AWAY FROM HEAVEN

A disabled child, a life-worn private detective, an innocent ex-con, and a mysterious orphan find themselves drawn together in a dawning awareness of the sanctity of life and the need to protect it from the efforts of those practicing utilitarian bioethics. In sharp contrast to her gently hypnotic narrative passages, Anne Twomey's soft voice explodes into Koontz's countless and complex characters. Each springs to sparkling life, with his own unique humor, horror, or quirkiness. Twomey misses not one shade of Koontz's ironic intent, and the moments of laughing out loud at text and performance equal those of recoiling in horror and choking back tears of sympathy. Overlying the listening experience is a developing awareness of our own responsibility to question, not only moral values, but the values of those charged with safeguarding them. R.P.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]