Zorro.

ZORRO. Isabel Allende. 2005. Read by Blair Brown. 13 cds. 15 hrs. Harper Audio. 0-06-078959-x. $39.95. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. JSA*

Actress Brown provides a lively, semi-voiced presentation of this old-fashioned, swashbuckling tale of the handsome hero, cloaked and masked in black, who devotes himself to righting wrongs and punishing villains. She keeps a long, busy story moving along briskly as it careens through Alta California, Spain, New Orleans, and the West Indies. Hero Diego de la Vega's father is a Spanish aristocrat who fell desperately in love with a Shoshone warrior princess during an Indian raid. Thus Diego learns not only elegant manners and superb swordsmanship from his father, but also the beauty and mystery of Native American life from his mother. His childhood is filled with daring adventures, but even greater excitement occurs when Diego is sent to Barcelona to be educated. He lives with a friend of his father, who has two daughters. He is immediately smitten with Julia, the sweet and lovely older girl, who sees him only as a friend, while Isabel, the feisty younger one, loves him immensely. Imbued with a strong sense of justice, and disguised as Zorro, he comes to the aid of a number of colorful characters, including a band of gypsies, a stern fencing master, and a kindly priest. There is never a dull moment (nor a sex scene) in this wholesome, action-filled historical romance. Pat Dole, Richmond, VA