Power Play

Finder's newest mixture of business technology and pulp fiction focuses on Jake Landry, the sole Hammond Aerospace junior exec attending a company retreat at a swank hunting lodge. He is alternately shunned or insulted by the obnoxious upper-level corporate types until the lodge is invaded by a band of homicidal hunters, and Landry is forced to fall back on lessons he learned on the wrong side of the tracks. Boutsikaris's low-key, amused delivery of Landry's narration is a vocal tightrope walk that successfully suggests enough intelligence to make his aero-tech talk credible and enough edgy cynicism to suggest a checkered past. His timing also gets the most out of the fast-paced action sequences. But his most helpful contribution to the success of the audio is his ability to find unique voices for the executive cadre. Finder individualizes his villains well enough, but he skimps a bit with the Hammond hierarchy, making it hard for the reader to recall one spoiled and pampered blowhard from another. Boutsikaris uses a variety of timbres and tones to give each true distinction. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, June 18). (Aug.)