OLIVIA JOULES AND THE OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION

London freelance reporter Olivia Joules may just be imagining that sexy Pierre Ferramo, whom she met at a face cream launch in Miami, is a terrorist, but she's not taking any chances. She follows him first to L.A., where she picks up a "spy ring" and a bug detector disguised as a calculator, and then to Honduras, where she falls in with a group of local scuba divers and learns that Pierre may be involved in some shady underwater dealings. But Olivia's travels don't end there. Before long, the aspiring spy finds herself in Egypt and then Sudan. Narrator Bailey handles the frequent change in setting skillfully, switching nimbly from the accents of a Honduran housekeeper to those of an Egyptian taxi driver. Although her American accent never quite rings true, no other reader could rival her performance of Olivia. Bailey's voice captures the essence of Fielding's intrepid heroine, her self-assurance, her determination to face challenges head on and her yearning to be appreciated for her strength, keen intuition and wild imagination. Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary ) has created a heroine for a new era, and with Bailey at the helm of this audiobook, listeners will gladly sit back and enjoy her outrageous exploits. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Forecasts, June 7). (June)