BAD COMPANY: bad news. When a farfetched storyline is blended with a miscast reader, the result lacks both balance and continuity. In the closing hours of WWII, Hitler presents his diary, and access to billions in Nazi plunder, to a senior aide, with instructions to carry on the cause. The aide, a German nobleman, uses the funds to build an industrial fortune. He stashes the diary, which contains information that can ruin the 21st-century American president. Now the good guys are pitted against bad to recapture the diary and save the president. British reader Patrick Macnee, whose crisp diction and bright voice fit characters from the U.K. perfectly, works far too hard to present key players from the U.S., Germany, and Italy. Overplayed situations and accents scuttle the last ray of hope for this effort. Higgins fans may enjoy BAD COMPANY. Few others will. T.J.M.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Putnam Berkley Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Part of the joy of Tom Clancy novels is one's belief that the stories could come true. His latest entry stretches that some as we find international terrorists building a nuclear bomb which is used to set Americans and Russians against one another. Jay Robertson reads with a newscaster's voice, crisp and clear with a light touch of drama. However, he does little to help listeners identify Clancy's huge cast of characters, and dialects seem difficult for him as he occasionally slips in and out of character. Nonetheless, patient listeners are rewarded as the plot unfolds. This will be a welcome addition to any library justifying the price of the multi-cassettte volumes.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 16 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
John Sanford is back with another psychological thriller in his Prey series. Surgeon, psychopath and serial killer Bekker is on the loose again after the easiest jailbreak in recent memory. Ken Howard's reading moves along with all the brooding energy a reader could want from a suspense book. His narration is deep, clear and well-suited to the gravelly voices of retired detective Lucas Davenport and the other cops. While Howard manages good dialects and shifts in character, his female voices leave a lot to be desired. For the most part, the abridgment gleefully throws logic and characterization overboard in favor of thrills, but the basic flavor of many characters is still fairly well maintained.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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