Audio Reviews reflect
PW's assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version.
FICTIONBIRD'S EYE VIEWJ.F. Freedman, read by Gregory Harrison. Time Warner Audio, abridged, four cassettes, 6 hrs., $24.98 ISBN 1-58621-097-1From the beginning of Freedman's (Above the Law, etc.) latest thriller, protagonist Fritz Tullis has a secret—a rare whooping crane has lost its way and taken up residence in a remote swamp on Tullis's Maryland estate. But when Tullis is out photographing the bird one day and witnesses a murder on his neighbor's property, it is he who soon finds himself out of his element. The neighbor is James Roach, a government official with a shady past involving arms deals and the ruthless elimination of any obstacles to his success. The murdered man is a Russian diplomat, and Tullis is soon unable to resist pursuing the case. Reading for a cast of macho male characters calls for little range, though Harrison does well enough with the southern-lady inflection of Tullis's mother and the voice of Maureen O'Hara, a comely ornithologist who develops a relationship with Tullis. He stumbles only in a brief scene where he unsuccessfully attempts an Irish brogue. In truth, the male characters are so scantily developed in the writing that one can hardly fault Harrison if his personifications of them offer little variation. The real strength is the action itself, which moves along crisply and offers several surprises. Freedman uses O'Hara's character as the basis for a plot twist rather than just for the love-interest angle that the genre demands, and his fans will probably find that his departure from courtroom dramas supplies a satisfying breath of fresh air. Simultaneous release with Warner hardcover (Forecasts, July 2). (Aug.)
