Gideon the Cutpurse

Doyle, a Shakespearean actor, brings something of his classical training to his reading of Buckley-Archer's historical novel. His steely authority is tempered, however, with a touch of Cockney cheek, alternating moments of Queen's-English rigor with colorful manglings of pronunciation and linguistic stress. Doyle is not above resorting to sound effects, either, providing the hideous screams of protagonist Peter Schock after the boy suffers a shocking surprise. The surprise is that Peter and his friend Kate have been transported via a misbegotten scientific experiment from the 18th to the 21st century, and the duo spends the rest of the story trying to figure out how they got there and how to return home. Doyle alternates between a deep, steady announcer's voice for the tale's narration, and a tangier, livelier series of voices for the dialogue. While he may sound more secure with the former, it is the latter that gives this audiobook its verve. Ages 10-up. (July)