Deceit

Dylan Baker characterizes a different kind of plumber in this account of duplicity, mayhem, and homicide. Baker's characterization is chilling as the hit man cunningly performs "wet work" for a top-ranking government agency to stop information leaks. Also involved is disgraced journalist Tom Valle, recently convicted of plagiarism, who is hot on the trail of the biggest news story of his career--one that will reclaim his reputation. Baker's tense and believable depictions take the listener from California to a remote cabin and then to confinement in a high-level psychiatric hospital. However, excellent narration can't salvage the story's illogical conspiracy theories or disappointing ending. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


This story and narrator are not well matched. The plot, though interesting, has numerous digressions that sometimes try the listener's patience. When coupled with Phil Sheridan's slow, meticulous voice, the effect produces boredom. A small town reporter who once was a major player on a New York City newspaper but was discredited for fabricating stories comes across the story of a lifetime. But who is going to believe him with his track record? Tom Valle starts to unearth a half-century of cover-ups about the victims of government testing of nuclear reactors. The upside to Sheridan's narration is a clear depiction of the characters. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine