Shoulder the Sky.

SHOULDER THE SKY. Anne Perry. 2004 Read by Michael Page. 8 tapes. 12 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 1-59355-052-9. $87.25. Vinyl; plot, reader notes. SA

World War I and its horrific battle scenes are the backdrop for this second in a new series of mysteries by Perry featuring the Reavley family. In No Graves As Yet, Joseph, Matthew, and Judith Reavley lose their parents, who are murdered by the Peacemaker, whose identity is unknown but whose agenda is to stop war between England and Germany at any cost. In Shoulder the Sky, the three Reavley children are still threatened by the Peacemaker but are also involved in a world war. Joseph, 35, is a chaplain on the front line at Ypres, where Judith, 24, is an ambulance driver. Matthew, 28, is at home in England working as an intelligence officer. The Peacemaker, who is close to the thrones of England and Germany, is now trying to use journalists to publish scathing attacks on the war in order to break British morale and prevent more volunteers going to Belgium and France.

The novel is filled with moral anguish and indignation, gruesome battle scenes, a poison gas attack, the waste at Gallipoli, and more murders by the Peacemaker. Narrator Page puts the listener right into the mud of Flanders and the blood of field hospitals. His full-voiced reading individualizes each character and is equally convincing for male and female voices. British tommies, pommy toffs, upper class and lower, all are convincingly created by this excellent reader. Recommended to Perry's many admirers. Janet Julian, Grafton, MA

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.