The Man Who Was Thursday

At once a mystery, satire, and farce, this compact book is difficult to pin down and is not what you would expect from the author. The plot revolves around anarchists involved in planning violent acts in Europe. Narrator Simon Vance is up to the task of guiding us through the book's maze of events and relationships. His crisp British accent and superb characterizations are entertaining and sometimes wildly unpredictable. He uses what seem to be odd voices but then reads the author's descriptions of the characters, and we recognize that Vance has made a smart choice. He's also great at pacing jokes and setting us up for unexpected, but very interesting, proceedings. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

In his time, Chesterton was dubbed the "prince of paradox" for treating serious questions in a whimsical manner. This psychological thriller masquerades as a spy novel while becoming a metaphysical thriller. The result is a literary work too complicated for the audio format. Keith does an admirable job of reading this complex, phantasmagoric work clearly and succinctly, but still the listener gets lost in Chesterton's nutty agenda. The hero is London policeman Gabriel Syme, who has infiltrated a group of poet-anarchists to save the world from their bombings. Keith narrates the brilliantly crafted language adroitly and with aplomb, but the tale twists and turns, weighted down by metaphors and symbols, until listeners will be totally confused and disappointed, and ultimately, lose interest. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine