NORTH OF BOSTON

Pirio Kasparov, a Boston-born native of Russian descent, can take care of herself. Marguerite Gavin projects the swagger of this feisty character, who is thrust from a friend's fishing boat into the North Atlantic when a freighter plows straight into it. Barely surviving in icy water for several hours before rescue, Kasparov soon realizes the collision was no accident. Gavin does an adequate portrayal of Kasparov's Russian father as he becomes entangled in her situation. And she pushes the velocity when the Navy involves Kasparov in a study on cold-water survival that, ironically, leads her into circumstances more chilling than the sea. As Gavin keeps this thriller on track with all its twists and turns, familiar listeners will be delighted with the author's nods to the 1995 worldwide bestseller SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2015]