NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Narrator Tom Stechschulte smoothly captures the reflections of West Texas Sheriff Tom Bell as they wind through this noir tale of bloodshed in the wild present-day West. Superb pacing and a gruff manner capture the men weathered by the lives they've led, keeping them as individualized as necessary. Capturing "good guys" and innocents caught in the cross fire of a drug deal gone bad, Stechschulte also skillfully maintains the hair-trigger tension of chilling psychopath Anton Chigurh. The sheriff's deputies, amusingly voiced as buffoons, add a bit of levity. McCarthy's superb writing powerfully measures the moral opposites of sheriff and killer, and Stechschulte uses fluid storytelling to balance the violent tale. R.F.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]