Scarecrow.

SCARECROW. Matthew Reilly. 2004. Read by Scott Bowers. 4 cds. 5 hrs. Abridged. Audio Renaissance. 1-55927-988-5. $24.95. Cardboard; plot, author notes. A

This is a comic book transformed into an audiobook, loaded with high-tech weaponry and terminology and military combat including brutal hand-to-hand fighting and multiple decapitations. Shane Schofield, aka Scarecrow, is the virtually indestructible superhero, an enigmatic Marine who finds himself on a list of 15 of the finest warriors in the world--a list that offers a reward of over 18 million dollars each for delivery of those 15 heads. Like sharks drawn to blood, the world's most vicious bounty hunters go into action. But with his small group of loyal friends and a knack of surviving every cliffhanger by seconds or millimeters, Scarecrow eventually (and predictably) comes through for truth, justice and the American way.

Sowers works hard trying to keep the breathless pace moving and acquits himself admirably, although the various accents he's called on to voice could use some work. But the teens in the audience won't mind. Interestingly, many "ripped from the headlines" names of actual terrorists and places are used here, along with nonstop action and graphic violence with a liberal sprinkling of expletives. Miles Klein, Frisco, TX