Silence

Kramer's smooth, slightly sardonic delivery is a good fit for Perry's latest mixture of dark humor and suspense. The chase thriller focuses on four characters—the hunted (private eye Jack Till and Wendy Harper, a beauty he helped “disappear” from assassins six years before) and the hunters (the bickering, tango-dancing hit team of Paul and Sylvie Turner who've been assigned to wipe out Wendy). Kramer barely alters his reading voice for Till and Wendy, adding a wary flatness for the sleuth and a softer tone of uncertainty for the hapless woman-in-jeopardy. For the Turners, however, he shows a bit more vocal dexterity. Paul has the deep, vaguely hollow sound of a very effective con man, while Sylvie's bogus East Coast socialite drawl loses much of its cool refinement when the going gets rough. The plot is tricky—Wendy is forced from hiding when her former partner is accused of her murder—but as convoluted and complex as it gets, Kramer's well-paced presentation makes every twist register. Simultaneous release with the Harcourt hardcover (Reviews, May 28). (July)