HAWKES HARBOR

YA novelist S.E. Hinton's (THE OUTSIDERS) first adult novel brings with it sex, swearing, and pop philosophy. Jamie Summers, illegitimate, orphaned, brought up by cruel nuns, leaves the orphanage and goes to sea. Later, in a mental hospital where he is being treated for amnesia and depression, Jamie pieces together the events that led him there. Hinton's opening scenes show her remarkable insights into adolescent behavior, but the story soon deteriorates into an ordinary, sometimes silly, vampire tale. Narrator Dick Hill brings the sound of a tinny small-time crook to Jamie, and his pal Kell sounds as rough as sandpaper. Avoiding stereotypes, Hill gives an original voice to the bloodsucker, his dark, somber tones almost eliminating images of Bela Lugosi. Despite pirates, sharks, gunrunning, and buried treasure, this book doesn't float without Dick Hill's lively performance. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 04/ JAN 05]