The Kills

Two seemingly unrelated cases merge, thanks to the persistence of Alex Cooper, feisty New York City Assistant DA. The ever-thickening plot involves a rape trial, the murder of an octogenarian dancer in Harlem, espionage, coin collecting, a hurricane, long-dead King Farouk, and a host of characters. It is to Blair Brown's and the abridger's credit that it all makes sense. This isn't Brown's first outing as Cooper, and she's obviously comfortable in the first-person role of Alex, as well as adept at others. When she says she can't stand an opposing lawyer's voice, you hear why. Every word is clear, and the production flows like the channels for which the book is partially named. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine