JUMP

A diverse group of apartment dwellers in San Francisco suddenly learns that their landlord has jumped to his death. Sam, a widower and recently retired cop, finds himself trying to solve the crime by getting to know his fellow tenants. The story’s characters give life to a different and sometimes-funny police procedural, but it's narrator Tom Weiner's voices that keep listeners engaged. Weiner sounds like a cast of 20 as he navigates amid gravelly voiced Sam and his neighbors: two female African-American entrepreneurs, a no-nonsense elderly woman, a middle-aged singer, and, best of all, two drug-dealing but likable brothers. There are also assorted villains and minor characters, all creatively narrated. Never once does Weiner confuse a voice, despite the characters’ varied ages, vocal personalities, and ethnicities. M.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2009]