THE WHITE DEVIL

Christian Coulson reads this horror story with a clarity that helps listeners follow its wild plot complexities. But his energy is deficient to fully involve the listener in the ghostly terrors of Andrew Taylor and his friends. Andrew is sent for a gap year to the Harrow School in northwest London to rehabilitate his college chances. Coulson successfully presents Andrew’s American accent, cynicism, and alienation, which cause his isolation from the other sixth-formers, except for a single female student, Persephone Vine. His startling visual similarity to young Lord Byron stirs the ghost of Byron’s school days lover, John Harkness, who threatens Andrew’s love—and even his life. The listening experience would be more engaging with a swifter pace. M.C.T. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2011]