BECAUSE THE NIGHT

L.J. Ganser throws himself into his reading of Ellroy's noir account of crime and corruption in Los Angeles, and the result is often spot-on. Ellroy piles on the lurid adjectives, using vivid over-the-top dialogue. Ganser enters into the spirit of both, snarling, shrieking, and, from the sound of it, nearly spitting with the intensity of the delivery. The result is often great fun. However, at times the reading is a bit off from what the text indicates; sometimes Ganser delivers a line at normal volume only to end with a speech tag along the lines of "he shouted." G.T.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]