The Conductor

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with the abridged THE CONDUCTOR.]--Kennealy brings us another web of intrigue and murder, including a series of dead bodies, starting with a headless, handless one. In the abridgment Eliot Kohen effortlessly puts voices to the international cast of characters and succeeds in exuding the tension, despite jarring music that announces changes of scene. Christopher Lane reads the unabridged version with few accents and much passion. Unbroken by music, Lane's performance drives THE CONDUCTOR forward toward its suspenseful conclusion. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

July 29, 1996
The terrorist El Cabecilla ("the conductor") has exploited the full abilities of his plastic surgeon in an attempt to avoid the Mossad. But the Russians have caught up with him, and the price of their silence is for him to capture a wealthy American on the verge of making a successful bid for Russian oil. This thriller by the author of the Nick Polo mystery series is a perfectly enjoyable action-filled summer read--as long as you don't set your sights too high. The characters are familiar cliches: El Cabecilla is a psychopath (he was raped by priests at school); his sidekick, a vicious lesbian; the hero, a borderline alcoholic cop still recovering from the death of his family. The body count is enormously high, which tends to emphasize the villains' nastiness even as it undermines their credibility as brilliant criminal minds.