THE GHOST ROAD

In her third novel in a remarkable, unsparing trilogy, Barker resumes her meditation on the deformities--physical and psychological--caused by war. She takes up the stories of previous characters, in particular the compassionate psychologist, William Rivers, who confronts the horrors of war in his asylum, and the complex Billy Prior, a former patient who, despite his revulsion for the battlefield, is drawn to it. Crossley's intelligent narration reflects the hardness of young men who have seen more than they should. He convincingly maneuvers through a variety of English accents, a necessity in reading Barker, whose attention to class is sharp and weighted with meaning. M.O. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 97]