THE INTERROGATOR

Malcolm Hillgartner provides a stern but amiable voice that embodies the tone of Carle’s memoir. The author relates his decades of experience within the CIA, with particular attention to his post-9/11 experiences as an interrogator of terrorist suspects and affiliated criminals. Hillgartner’s sympathetic tone coupled with details of Carle’s personal life works well to humanize Carle and make listeners sympathetic to him. The most problematic issue of the production is the numerous redactions within the book. The CIA had to approve the book before publishing and removed significant numbers of Carle’s words. In the audio, whether it is one single word or an entire page, the listener hears only the one (almost haunting) word “redacted.” This continual interruption distracts from the production, and listeners can become increasingly confused. L.E. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2011]