THE SECRET MAN

There's plenty of fascinating Deep Throat trivia in this audiobook--for example, at one point, Nixon sends a congratulatory bottle of champagne to ex-FBI agent Mark Felt, unaware that he is the man who brought down the presidency. But what keeps the listener riveted to this story is not the unmasking of an informer--it's the transformation of two men in a father-son-style relationship. Boyd Gaines's narration is particularly sensitive to this element, adding poignancy to Felt's deterioration and Woodward's reflections on his own aging. If ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN was a book about youth and the quest for truth, then Woodward's new book is, as he bills it, the antithesis--a story about aging and the quest for meaning. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]