Ken Follett Plots a Nasty Cold War Conspiracy

Amnesia and espionage are key words in Ken Follett’s most recent fast-paced thriller, “Code to Zero” (Penguin Audiobooks; unabridged fiction; eight cassettes; 10 hours; $39.95; read by George Guidall. Also available abridged; four cassettes; six hours; $24.95; read by Frank Muller. Or five CDs; six hours; $29.95; also read by Muller. Recorded Books has simultaneously released an unabridged version, also read by Guidall; $59; rental: $16.50 [800] 638-1304).

Waking up from what must have been a night of hard drinking, a bum looks at himself in the mirror at a train station and has no idea who he is or where he came from. Through a clever sequence of events, the man pieces together his past by ferreting out his skills and instinctual behavior.

The plot is tied into the Cold War and the space race. It involves not only the amnesiac, Claude “Luke” Lucas, who we discover is a rocket scientist, but also a group of the best and the brightest from Harvard and Radcliffe, whose ties to one another prove deadly as the story progresses through two decades.

As this eventually becomes predictable, it is not Follett’s most effective thriller, though it does have an urgency that carries through to the last tape. Part of the story is set in 1958, when the United States is about to launch Explorer I, its first space satellite. Flashbacks are an integral part of the story, taking us back to Luke’s college days at the onset of World War II. As he begins to uncover his identity and to discover just why his memory was erased, it becomes clear that some of the people in his life may be foes rather than friends.

Audio book veteran George Guidall has a comfortable voice that is warm, low and easy on the ears. He captures the sinister aspects of the novel, as well as the fear and confusion of a man who cannot even remember his name.

The actor simply softens his tone for women’s voices. He manages decent regional accents that hint at Texas and Alabama, instead of a full-blown twang. Guidall’s performance is flawed only in that his pacing is uniform for all the characters, which is not realistic.

A slight problem with the production is that when the story travels back in time, there is only the briefest of pauses. In order to avoid confusion, a few bars of music or a longer break would help listeners know the setting has changed.

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There are always several versions of the truth. There is mine, yours and someone else’s. Then there is the absolute truth.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s “When We Were Orphans” looks at one man’s struggle with his past as he tries to unearth the secrets of his youth. Though this is not the strongest effort from Ishiguro, who won the Booker Prize for “The Remains of the Day,” it nonetheless intrigues. (Harper Audio; unabridged fiction; eight cassettes; 11 hours; $39.95; read by John Lee.)

At the heart of the story are kidnappings, the vagaries of memory and a childhood mystery that haunts the grown-up life of one Christopher Banks, celebrated detective.

Much of the tale occurs in the years between the two world wars, when Banks returns to the International Settlement of Shanghai, where he lived until he was 9. He hopes to find his parents, who disappeared under separate but mysterious circumstances. He believes that his father, a British businessman, and his mother, an outspoken opponent of the opium trade, were both kidnapped and are still being held hostage.

What captures the listener’s attention are those gray areas between reality and fantasy. The detective’s desire to find his parents is so compelling that what he perceives as truth may be little more than wishful thinking. We never quite know if the people who cross Banks’ path as he unearths his past actually exist or simply inhabit the landscape of his mind.

Though the novel is imaginative and intelligent, Ishiguro’s meandering style sometimes bogs down the plot. It also does not draw one in immediately but grows on you. Unfortunately, it does so rather slowly.

Narrator John Lee brings a low-key energy to “Orphans” that enlivens the material and draws out Ishiguro’s subtle humor. Banks tells the story in a rather detached manner, which Lee captures with his unhurried and formal approach to the material.

Lee sounds very much the English gentleman with his refined British pronunciation. His smooth accent and polished delivery are lovely. However, pidgin English as filtered through Japanese and Chinese accents sounds a bit forced and overdone when juxtaposed against Banks’ unruffled demeanor.

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Rochelle O’Gorman reviews audio books every other week. Next week: Dick Lochte on mystery books.