New York Station

Lane begins his narration of Dudley’s exciting WWII spy thriller using the crisp, polished tone of a news broadcaster. But when Roy Hawkins, a hard-boiled but humane American agent of Britain’s MI6, is ordered against his will to leave his anti-Fascist team in Nazi-occupied Paris for a new assignment in New York City, Lane toughens his rendition, reflecting Hawkins’s frustration and anger. Once in Manhattan, Hawkins’s anger is directed at a gallery of villains that includes kindly-voiced pro-Hitler radio commentator Walter Ventnor and thick-accented German diplomat Dr. Hans Ludwig. They’re attempting to interfere in the 1940 presidential election as well as steal the U.S. Navy’s secret new technology, sonar. While trying to stop a traitor from sharing shipping schedules with the Germans that could be used to guide U-boat attacks, he meets and falls in love with beautiful socialite Daisy van Scheck, whose private school accent Lane can’t quite emulate. He’s more successful giving voice to gruff, guttural G-man Mike Kelly; W, MI6’s genial, very British station chief; and dreary Nazi strongman Dieter. Both author and narrator combine to make Hawkins’s battle with the Bund a thrilling and fast-paced entertainment. [em]A Blackstone hardcover. (Jan.) [/em]