TRICKS

"Trick or treat" takes on new meaning in McBain's novel about the boys of the 87th Precinct. A magician has disappeared after a performance at a high school assembly; body parts are showing up all over town; a band of half-pint trick-or-treaters is robbing local liquor stores; and a slasher is brutalizing the red light district. McBain expertly weaves the many heroes and plot lines of his books into a unified story. In reading dialogue, Jonathan Marosz effectively captures the many ethnicities and personalities of the ensemble cast. Marosz is less successful in his reading of the narrative. His own clipped and tight voice is not completely convincing as the chronicler of the mean streets of the 87th Precinct. Nevertheless, as the novel moves along, the story and the characters make all the distractions fade away. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]