NO ONE LEFT BEHIND: The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story

It was a wise editorial decision to have the author read the preface—in her pleasant, no-nonsense country voice—to this amazingly timely audio version of her new book about a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who's likely being held prisoner in Iraq 11 years after Desert Storm. Along with Aselford's competent but definitely low-key reading of the rest of the book, it gives the entire production a feeling of an overheard conversation between knowledgeable friends, adding a depth of believability and confidence that fancier, more melodramatic treatment might have weakened. If Lt. Commander Speicher, shot down during the Gulf War and first listed as killed in action, is indeed alive—as Yarsinske's painstaking, Pulitzer Prize-nominated research seems to indicate—it could cause many Americans to look at President Bush's plans for Iraq with new eyes. Her presentation of material from top government and military officials, diplomats, pilots, informers and Iraqi defectors make the book even more authentic. Simultaneous release with the Dutton hardcover. (July)