The Hammer of Eden

The tension ratchets up quickly in this abridged reading of Ken Follett's thriller. Actor Anthony Heald--a movie (The Client, The Silence of the Lambs) and audiobook (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) veteran--uses a breathy, urgent delivery to spin the tale of ecoterrorist cultists and the unlikely heroes who must stop them before they hammer California with a major man-made earthquake. Follett has real contempt for his aging-hippie villains, which Heald gleefully communicates through lines of faux sagacity like, "Money makes you poor" and "Marriage is the greatest infidelity," and by having the head bad guy clear his conscience of a cold-blooded murder by reciting a nursery rhyme. (Running time: four hours, three cassettes) --Lou Schuler