GONE FOR GOOD

The disappearance/reappearance theme that played so well in TELL NO ONE drives Coben's new novel. Dylan Baker lays out an intriguing tale of Will Klein's search for his fugitive brother, leading listeners through each false trail and deception. Baker does his best with the thriller, but the abridgment disappoints. Not surprisingly, the emphasis of this adaptation is on the action, abundant with violence, but further character development would have been welcome. Baker's narrative and psychological portraits are strong, but some of the bad guys don't have sufficient menace for their words and deeds. This doesn't have the staying power of Coben's other successes. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]