Audio reviews reflect PW's assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version.
FictionDARKSIDE: A NovelP.T. Deutermann, read by Dick Hill. Brilliance, unabridged, 11 cassettes, 16 hrs., $34.95 ISBN 1-59086-110-8Deutermann's latest—a tense mystery set in and around the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis—is sleek, sharp and scary. The author (Sweepers; Hunting Season; etc.) has strong connections to the Academy, and seasoned reader Hill deftly showcases Deutermann's expertise. When a plebe at the Academy mysteriously falls out of a sixth-story window and dies, energetic Midshipman First Class Julie Markham, an acquaintance of the dead, is placed under scrutiny. While she scrambles to clear herself of blame, the plot thickens, and the Academy reels from the possibility that there's a murderer on the loose. Hill expertly brings to life a variety of characters, including Markham; her father, Ev, who teaches history at the Academy; Annapolis security chief Jim Hall; and tough defense lawyer Liz DeWinter, who gets some of the book's best lines as she goes up against the Academy's "dark side"—the cadre of super-loyalists anxious to protect and defend the institution from scandal at any cost. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 21). (Dec.)
