The Traitor

Tommy Carmellini, former cat burglar, is tied to the straight and narrow by a simple commitment to the CIA: Serve or go to jail. Carmellini is assigned to Paris, where he works with his old boss. Their job is to find the connection between the director of the French intelligence service and his secret Al Qaeda agent. Dennis Boutsikaris packs his presentation with a dazzling variety of accents and characters of both genders. However, he is at his best as Carmellini. Boutsikaris provides a unique vocal identity with an expression and tempo that match Tommy's wiseacre attitude. With just a little imagination, listeners get the feeling they are sharing a beer with Carmellini while he tells his fascinating story. It doesn't get much better than this. T.J.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

May 15, 2006
In bestseller Coonts's assured new international thriller, Tommy Carmellini, the sardonic, laid-back CIA agent who became a star in 2004's Liars & Thieves
, gets a shot at the big time in his second featured outing when he's asked to drop his routine work and help find out why the director of French intelligence is making large, secret investments in the Bank of Palestine. Tommy wonders if he's the right man for the job; his own espionage experience in France is limited to being "assistant passport officer at the embassy." When his controller tells him that the new head of European Ops asked for Tommy by name, it turns out to be the unretired Jake Grafton (the longtime star of his own Coonts series), described by Carmellini as "the toughest son of a bitch wearing shoe leather." With support from Grafton; an enigmatic, seductive CIA agent, Sarah Houston; and a nifty little electronic weapon that Coonts says is really being tested, Tommy zeroes in on the high-level traitor who could do him—and the world—a lot of damage.

Coonts's thriller features a French connection to an Al Qaeda plan to assassinate world leaders. Dennis Boutsikaris begins his narration in a monotone but picks up speed as the tension escalates. He gives CIA Agent Tommy Carmellini an intensity as vibrant as that of his boss, Jake Grafton--both previous Coonts superstars. Boutsikaris also does a credible job with foreigners' dialogue, but his performance slips with the story's female characters. He sounds too much like a man imitating a woman--although his portrayal of Tommy's romance with another agent is touching. At times Boutsikaris's delivery is so rapid paced that some of the plot's details are lost. However, he provides an edge-of-the-seat finale. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine