FLAT WATER TUESDAY

If you loved THE ART OF FIELDING, you’ll love this novel. The sport is crew rather than baseball, the setting is a snotty New England boarding school rather than a midwestern college, but much else fits the familiar mold. The moral and psychological questions at its heart are more interesting than winning or losing: Can anyone change? Where does true strength of character lie? With passion and skill Holter Graham portrays the often maddeningly perception-resistant Rob Carrey, the scholarship kid who must transform himself from lone sculler to team rower, and Graham’s racing sequences are heart pounding. Occasionally the drama of Graham’s performance overpowers formulaic writing, but that is hardly the fault of the production. Graham delivers a fast-paced, emotional, and thoroughly satisfying listening experience. B.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2013]