The Veteran

The five novellas by Frederick Forsyth are filled with intrigue, investigation, and that special twist in the last paragraph that jolts the listener with a surprise ending. Patrick MacNee and Christopher Cazenove read the first four tales in a matter-of-fact manner, crisply enun-ciating the words but never interacting with the plots or characters. Their voices drone on and on, making the stories dull and forgettable. In the fourth tale, THE ART OF THE MATTER, the production is marred by chair-squeaking and page-rustling just when the tale starts to grab the listener's attention. The fifth tale, WHISPRING WIND, performed by Bruce Boxleitner, is worth the wait as he tells in breathless wonderment of the only survivor of Custer's Last Stand, Ben Craig. As the tale gains in momentum, Boxleitner wraps the listener into the suspense of Craig's experience. Unfortunately, one tale follows the next, and because there is no way to tell which story is on what tape, the listener is fored to experience them all. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine