Robert Fass captures the natural interplay between a father and son during an emotional struggle for survival. On a mountain excursion in New Hampshire, eight-year-old Tim and his father, Doug, are reeling from the recent death of Tim's mother. News of an unidentified national catastrophe forces the two hikers to seek refuge, rather than risk traveling home. Fass adds a subtle... Read More
This epic novel in verse is set in the Northern Sami lands of Scandinavia above the Arctic Circle. Angela Dawe employs deliberate pacing and pauses, along with a dreamy tone. Her delivery style results in a faithful translation of the poetic blank spaces throughout the original text, which suggest the quietness of the landscape and the erasing of the Sami reindeer herders'... Read More
Gilli Messer delivers a tender, emotional performance of a family in grief in this contemporary novel. When vibrant and funny Annie Brown suddenly dies, her young family struggles to adapt to life without her. Messer's pleasant, expressive voice lends itself well to the Brown family, as well as their friends, and neighbors; she portrays children, adults, and the elderly with... Read More
Narrator Angela Lin's restrained pace and understated delivery channel the heartrending emotion of this literary family saga. In the devastating Tangshan earthquake of 1976, a seven-year-old girl, Xiaodeng, becomes separated from her twin brother, Xiaoda, and their mother, Li Yuanni. Xiaodeng, who grows up to become a successful writer in Canada thirty years later, continues to... Read More
Robert Fass narrates this intriguing novel about one man's journey through his many lives. Eugene Miles is an elderly curmudgeon living in a retirement community in California. He is befriended by a housekeeper named Angel, to whom he recounts the tales of his past incarnations as a street urchin in medieval Spain, an explorer with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and Oscar... Read More
It takes an incredibly skilled narrator to make character vignettes entrancing, and performer Chloë Sevigny more than achieves this. Alice is struggling through her young career as an actress working at a dwindling local theater. After her best friend Sadie's mother, Celine, attends the play, Celine and Alice enter into a controversial sexual relationship. Meanwhile, Sadie is... Read More
Aileen Huynh delivers a compelling performance as Ky Tran, a relentless journalist in pursuit of answers surrounding her brother's brutal murder. Huynh's nuanced portrayal adds depth to the narrative. As Ky unravels layers of intrigue, Huynh expertly conveys the emotional toll of her investigation. Listeners are drawn into an unfiltered view of the period after the War in... Read More
Rose Akroyd narrates this Booker Prize-longlisted novel about an autistic woman who is navigating a neurotypical world as a single parent. Sunday Forrester lives a quiet life in rural England with her daughter. She has "quiet days" and most of the time eats only white foods. When a middle-aged couple moves into the neighborhood, Sunday and her teenage daughter become smitten... Read More
Vaneh Assadourian delivers this novel about a dysfunctional Armenian American family in a knowing style and understanding tone. She adroitly captures the clipped angry tone of the indomitable harridan Takouhi, matriarch and mother of three daughters. Author Zilelian presents the three daughters' struggles. Kohar, the eldest, had trouble with fertility; Lucine's husband takes... Read More
A talented ensemble of narrators perform Paul Murray's Booker-shortlisted novel about an Irish family that is falling apart at its seams. Ciaran O'Brien performs the perspective of Dickie, a seemingly oblivious car salesman whose business is going under after the financial crash. Beau Holland narrates the perspective of Dickie's shopaholic wife, who is scheming to have her... Read More
Lee Osorio's deep voice with a hint of gravel is well suited to this historical novel, a blend of gritty Old West adventure and Latin magical realism. Mexican bandito Antonio Sonoro is nicknamed "the Bullet Swallower" after a disfiguring encounter with Texas Rangers. Antonio wreaks havoc on everyone, unlike his good-natured grandson, a 1960s singing-cowboy movie star. Their... Read More
Narrator Andy Ingalls delivers all the nuances of a full cast in Spufford's latest, a literary detective novel that takes place in an alternate universe. In an authoritative tone, Ingalls brings to life Cahokia, located on the banks of the Mississippi. In the novel, this ancient Indigenous society lives on in the 1920s, seeming to flourish in its diversity. But when Barrow... Read More
Listeners will enjoy this deliciously twisted tale dynamically narrated by the author. Lozada-Oliva explores intergenerational trauma as three generations of women find themselves caught up in a zombie apocalypse. Elderly Guatemalan immigrant Candelaria kills her octogenarian boyfriend. Surrounded by chaos in Boston, she desperately and inexplicably tries to get to the Old... Read More
A family story blends with history and myth in this excellent audiobook delivered by two talented narrators. Bahni Turpin, the primary narrator, tells the interwoven stories of Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes, two women who flee the cruelties of the post-Civil War South in 1916, only to discover the brutalities of the North, where they quickly become widowed and fight poverty. A... Read More
Nicole Lewis performs this sophomore novel from Booker longlisted author Kiley Reid. Millie Cousins is a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas, and her goal is to graduate, buy a house, and begin living her life. When Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and journalist, offers Millie money in exchange for the opportunity to eavesdrop on the dorm's residents,... Read More
With her beautiful British accent, Naomi Frederick narrates this story of two couples whose lives unravel. Lucy and Adam, and Cora and Scott are practically a blended family. Adam, Cora, and Scott were friends at university; their past is deep and rife with secrets unknown to Lucy. One day, Lucy sees a compromising picture of Scott with another woman. As she tries to piece... Read More
As the voice of Mona, Ellie Moon performs appropriately. A young playwright, Mona should be an engaging character, but we don't hear much about her creative process. Rather, she struggles with family, friends, and herself throughout the novel. The simple structure of the story and the journalistic style of the prose are distracting in the audiobook format. Multiple narrators... Read More
James Meunier convincingly portrays the confusion and terror of Alex Dean, a Londoner who wakes up one morning in a place and time he doesn't recognize. Alex's most recent memory is spending a delightful evening with his girlfriend. They were celebrating his acceptance to Cambridge--until they were interrupted by a violent confrontation with Alex's childhood nemesis. Meunier... Read More
Precious Mustapha and Tara Tijani invite listeners into an extraordinary story based on West African mythology. On the day her uncle dies, Ozoemena becomes the unwitting heir to a supernatural family legacy. After her father's death leaves Treasure and her mother destitute, she strikes up a bargain with a strange man in the market. Mustapha voices Ozoemena as a girl who is... Read More
This first-person recollection of a love affair, first published in 1930, is given a splendid narration by Derek Perkins. The title refers to the main character's responses to his love interest's seeming lack of transparency. The author, born Nikolai Freudenstein in Saint Petersburg, was a well-known writer of the Russian diaspora in Paris after the Russian Revolution. He died... Read More
Soneela Nankani dynamically narrates this unique mystery. Sana and her father move to an old South African estate that has been repurposed as housing for those seeking shelter. Still grieving the passing of her mother, Sana tries to make connections with the other tenants and stumbles into the bedroom of the estate's former resident and her djinn. Nankani charmingly delivers... Read More
Golden Voice Narrator Julia Whelan creates an intimate and immediate listening experience in this contemporary audiobook featuring the California landscape. Thirty-three-year-old Daphne, an assistant to a movie producer, is searching for love. Whelan takes listeners through Daphne's romantic history with one unusual twist: At the start of each relationship, Daphne mysteriously... Read More
Kansas student Dee Gale transfers to Trinity College, Dublin, in this contemporary retelling of THE WIZARD OF OZ, narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs. Dee's friends, Irishman Sam Clery and Brit Tim Woodman, are portrayed by Damian Gildea and Christian Coulson. Jacobs expresses Dee's anguish as she recovers from an inappropriate relationship with a member of her former university's... Read More
Those who listen to this audiobook will learn that Tolstoy was wrong when he said happy families are all alike. There are many kinds of happy families, and they appear in all sorts of configurations here. The novel's focus is on adoption and how it is a positive, uplifting choice for those concerned. The liquid, uplifting voice of Patti Murin tells the story of actress India... Read More
George Newbern narrates Elinor Lipman's entertaining comedy with zest and an appreciation of its mix of improbability and realism. The blend of screwball and social humor focuses on Henry, a sympathetic retired lawyer who came out as gay late in life. His comfortable life on New York's Upper West Side is upended by a needy ex-wife, a handsome home design expert who lives with a... Read More
This posthumously published novel, a meditation on death, has a dark side, but Eunice Wong's performance balances its undercurrent of grief with buoyant energy that will have listeners rooting for its antiheroes. A comatose Korean cello aficionado named Alma has ambivalent memories of her relationship with Daniel, a white violinist. Daniel, meanwhile, finds himself locked in a... Read More
Gisela Chípe and Liliana Montenegro provide nuanced alternating narrations in this contemporary audiobook about a strained mother-daughter relationship. Chípe portrays 30-something Monica Yolanda Flores, who shares a Brooklyn apartment with her recently widowed Peruvian-born mother, Paula. Chípe adeptly conveys Flores's sorrow and longing for deeper connections beyond her... Read More
While narrator Jennifer Pickens wrings all the passion she can out of this novelized life of Henry David Thoreau, the audiobook keeps its focus firmly on Thoreau's inner world, especially his relationship with nature. Although that relationship is active, it is not dramatic. Thoreau may have been thrilled to discover a climbing fern, but few listeners will share his excitement.... Read More
Shayna Small delivers a variety of accents as a group of New Yorkers gather on the rooftop of their dilapidated building during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling stories to pass the time. The audiobook features a "pots-and-pans symphony" that applauds the healthcare workers who risk their lives to treat the sick. Small shines in this reboot of another plague novel, Boccaccio's... Read More
Author and narrator Yangsze Choo gently narrates this fantasy audiobook about foxes that can transform into dazzlingly beautiful humans. Bao has the ability to tell truths from lies and has been tasked with solving a murder mystery that might involve foxes. Meanwhile, Snow has taken human form and gets a job as a servant, all to aid her in avenging the death of her child. Choo... Read More
Thérèse Plummer narrates the stories of four women in various stages of their lives who have built a strong friendship together. Marnie is a single celebrity cook whose daughter Bella is pregnant. Working for Marnie is her friend Ellen and an intern, Sophia. Plummer depicts the emotional ups and downs of Bella's pregnancy. As Marnie becomes involved in a romance with Sophia's... Read More
Carlotta Brentan and Joy Osmanski, both talented and experienced narrators, are a fantastic match for this updated and very American retelling of the myth of Persephone and Demeter. It's set in New York and on a private island over the course of one summer. Brentan voices Cory Ansel, an aimless 18-year-old. Alternate chapters feature the perspective of Cory's mother, Emer, who... Read More
Listeners meet Glory, voiced by Bahni Turpin with all the sass, spark, and cantankerousness written into this story. Glory is a hoarder (or maybe not?) and a bookie (definitely). Now her daughter has arrived to help her sort through her house and her life. Together they seek to solve the untimely and mysterious death of Glory's friend, a local nun. Turpin's narration is... Read More
Graham Halstead meets the complex narration challenge posed by this audiobook. His performance provides the perfect mix of empathy and horror. Blakemore's work is a deeply literary journey based on a real historical figure. In the time of the French Revolution, Tarare is forced out of his home; eventually he joins a circus, where he becomes a freak attraction for his ability to... Read More
Danny Hoch takes on this contemporary satire of the Hebrew folk figure called a golem--but this one lives in Brooklyn, rather than Eastern Europe. When Brooklyn-born-and-bred Len Bronstein, a secularly Jewish art teacher, molds a nine-foot golem from clay, he finds he's got his hands full. Former Hasid Miri Apfelbaum joins them to translate the golem's heavily accented Yiddish... Read More
Sixteen narrators, many Indigenous, join their voices to deliver memoirist/poet Michelle Porter's haunting debut novel. Matriarch Mamé, voiced by actor Tantoo Cardinal, has passed on but can't settle in the afterlife as connections to her daughter, Geneviève; granddaughter, Lucie; and great-great-granddaughter, Carter, keep her tethered to this world. Geneviève, grittily voiced... Read More
Golden Voice narrator Robin Miles's evocative performance of Cristina Henríquez's novel about the building of the Panama Canal takes its time, which feels right for a book with many threads. Set midway through the canal's multi year construction, the plot follows several central characters as they navigate personal dramas and canal-related crises. Miles's lovely, warm voice... Read More
Narrators Natalie Beran and Jackson Bliss portray queer Russian-Maori siblings Greta and Valdin in this wise, hilarious novel about a loving and chaotic New Zealand family. Beran depicts Greta, a 20-something PhD student who is navigating various relationship messes, in a perky, wry tone that is dripping with millennial angst. Bliss narrates Valdin's sections with a mix of... Read More
A duo of narrators present a series of events that threaten to upend an English-Irish couple's wedding. Listeners learn about the happy couple, Celine and Luke, in part through the perspectives of their close friends, former lovers, and family. Ayoola Smart's understated performance of the droll humor and nimble shifts in tone presents listeners with multiple angles of the... Read More
An ensemble of narrators enhances this thriller's absorbing quality. Ruby has been shrouded in mystery since she was abducted at the age of four and returned to her family eight months later. In a series of letters, Ruby discusses the abduction, her wealth, and four deceased husbands. In alternating points of view, listeners learn why Ruby's son, Cam, is reluctant to claim his... Read More
Ayse Babahan thoughtfully narrates this coming-of-age story. Ada feels forever suspended between two states of being. She is one person during the school year in California and another during summers spent with her mother and grandmother in a holiday villa along the Turkish coast. In her nineteenth year, when a chance encounter occurs and an old romance rekindles, all the... Read More
Narrator Ariel Blake captures the climate-devastated, AI-driven world of this novel. From the opening scene, Phillips raises the stakes continually as May, a desperate mother, sells her face to be used in an experiment. The city is run by intelligent robots called "hums," and without her face, May is unrecognizable by them. Blake's steady voices for the hums add a sense of cool... Read More
Julianna Baggott has written a timely and compelling collection of short stories covering a variety of speculative fiction themes, many of which are reminiscent of episodes of the dystopian science-fiction show "Black Mirror." A bevy of talented narrators deliver the stories, which have intriguing themes, such as a romantic credit score that renders some individuals banned from... Read More
Piper Goodeve is excellent as Natalie Marx, the young Jewish girl who narrates this upbeat, humorous audiobook. Hoping to book a stay at the Inn at Lake Devine, the Marxes are rebuffed by proprietor Ingrid Berry, who tells them that all their guests are Gentiles. Natalie snags an invitation from a non-Jewish friend, Robin Fife, and spends the summer of 1960 at the inn with the... Read More
Leeanna Walsman immerses listeners in an emotional story that is sure to bring both laughter and tears. Two years after becoming a widow, 40-year-old Kate struggles to raise her son while juggling friendships and her career. Hugh, her boss, who was a close friend of her late husband, has been patiently supportive as she adjusts to her new life, always there when she needs him.... Read More
Four narrators work together in this multigenerational story of migration, love, and loss. Janet Song, Intae Kim, Greta Jung, and Raymond J. Lee create balance to this lyrical story set amid the making of the two Koreas. They bring to life the struggles of Insuk and her turbulent romance and then marriage to Sungho. The female and male narrators trade a wide variety of... Read More
It's no exaggeration to call narrator Dorothy Dillingham Blue's performance of this audiobook a Southern charmer. Putting her Vanderbilt PhD on hold, PJ Spoon becomes Pennywhistle, Tennessee's, Chickie Shak chef. She competes with her co-workers--the button-cute Boof and the frighteningly efficient Linda--in a no-holds-barred chicken pageant. Blue's voice weaves and dips... Read More
Iranian American actor Arian Moayed gives the performance of a lifetime in poet Kaveh Akbar's extraordinary debut novel. Cyrus Shams is a queer Iranian American poet in recovery who is grieving the long-ago death of his mother (killed when the U.S. Navy shot down a civilian Iranian plane) and struggling to find meaning in life. He becomes obsessed with the idea of martyrdom and... Read More
Narrator Maria Liatis is superb at portraying both the characters in this novel and the rural environment they inhabit. It's 1990, not far from Interstate 80. Marly and her mother arrive in the Pennsylvania town and soon encounter two brothers, one of which Marly will marry at a young age. But she remains close to both. The discovery of a skeleton in the church attic threatens... Read More
Guy Gunaratne narrates his audiobook, which is centered on the fractured life of its Syrian protagonist, Yayha Bas. We listeners are flies on the wall as Yayha's interrogator asks him to recount the actions that brought him to the present moment. Gunaratne delivers this wending tale about a poet turned revolutionary and then prisoner in a tender voice that makes us draw near.... Read More
This near-future dystopian novel is set in a time of ecological disaster in the mostly underwater community of Island City. Carlotta Brentan portrays the cast of characters smartly by subtly shifting tone, cadence, and timbre. She smoothly portrays the protagonist, who begins as a gangly 11-year-old named Sylvia. Brentan contrasts Sylvia's size and temperament with those of her... Read More
Humphrey Bower narrates the Australian fugitive Lin's further adventures in Bombay. Part autobiography and part fiction, the story brims with action and romance centered on the dashing hero. Bower delivers another mesmerizing performance. The large cast of characters crackle with individuality and Lin's confidence, giving believability to high action. Bower complements the... Read More
Martin's latest audiobook takes place in 1954 on Verona, a tropical island near an unspecified mainland, where Mrs. Gulliver runs a discreet legal bordello. Cassandra Campbell narrates as Lila Gulliver telling her story in an intelligent and determined voice. Campbell employs minor adjustments in tone as she delivers the dialogue of the other characters in the audiobook.... Read More
Narrating his novel, Hisham Matar gives the story of love, loss, and exile during political turmoil a melancholy undertone and a delicate cadence. Khaled is a young Libyan man whose love of the written word takes him to the UK for further studies. But even far from home, he cannot remain unaffected by the rumblings of the Arab Spring. This is a lyrical journey into the ties... Read More
Robin Miles brings to life this compelling and thought-provoking novel about grief, connection, and hope. After the loss of their infant, a college professor named Rio and her husband, Gibraltar, decide to create a safe haven in Massachusetts. They build an underground sanctuary for those who are finding it impossible to deal with today's frightening and ever-changing world.... Read More
This complicated story of friendship, migration, and loss is told by Jessica Sarkodie, Ekua Ekumah, and Sarah Dorgbadzi. They create a delightful listening experience with lilting rhythms of slightly accented English. The trio display the variety of personalities in Ghanaian women as depicted in this tale of Selasi and Akorfa. As children, the two girls are best friends,... Read More
Karl Jenkinson introduces Neville Watkins, who is shocked when his wife leaves him, he is fired from his job, and he plows into a car while sneezing. It is through that last event that listeners meet 50-something Neville and Laura, the other driver. Jenkinson outdoes himself performing characters of all ages and classes who are experiencing life's joys and sorrows. Things start... Read More
Author Jill McCorkle joins a talented group of narrators in a memorable performance of her terrific new short story collection. Sly, funny, perceptive, and searing, the stories explore what gets us through our days and years. Hayden Bishop, Teralyn Davis, Marcella Cox, Kathy Bell Denton, and Cary Hite bring a euphonious mix of Southern accents and helpful interpretations of the... Read More
While Nolan's novel begins as a police procedural, it soon evolves, with the help of narrator Jessica Regan, into a study of hereditary hopelessness. In England, as police investigate the murder of a small child, the novel pulls back the curtain on life in the 1990s with a focus on political and social forces of the period. Regan's prodigious range guides the portrayal of the... Read More
Barrie Kealoha narrates this intriguing look at friendship and social media. Twenty-six-year-old Maia lives in Milan with an older, accomplished boyfriend. While working as a part-time waitress at a local bar, she's given the opportunity to work for an 18-year-old influencer. Gloria becomes enamored with Maia and her truthful take on life. As Maia and Gloria grow closer, Maia... Read More
Joniece Abbott-Pratt performs this multigenerational novel set over several decades in the American South. In the 1830s, a mysterious woman named Saint frees enslaved people from plantations throughout Arkansas and brings them to a town they call Ours. There they find a safe haven from the rest of the world. But when Saint tightens her control of the townspeople, they begin to... Read More
Dion Graham skillfully breathes life into the diverse characters in Pelecanos's four novellas, vividly portraying the communities that constitute Washington, DC, beyond its political facade. Across different timeframes, these stories unveil ordinary individuals who are grappling with personal challenges and having to own up to them and take responsibility. Golden Voice Graham... Read More
Amy Alexander's Scottish burr and nuanced delivery are perfect for this cozy collection of love stories. Who needs online dating in Edinburgh when the Perfect Passion Company can apply a more tailored and personal approach to making love matches? Katie takes over her cousin's matchmaking business and discovers it takes innovative thinking to sort out the types of people her... Read More
A pirate captain, portrayed with a perfect raspy brogue by English actor Sam Hazeldine, captures an unusual treasure, a beautiful, fiery woman with a past and a price on her head, voiced with a fine mix of defiance and yearning by Eleanor Tomilinson. Not surprisingly, a tempestuous "will-they-won't-they" romance is born. Shifting seamlessly from the ensemble dialogue onboard... Read More
There's a strange fable-like quality to this novel about grief and the stories children tell to make sense of it. Sophie Amoss brings all that into her performance by varying her tone and pacing, and shifting her voice as the story moves between time periods. As a girl, Margaret loses her best friend in a tragic accident. Her role in the death is murky, and as she grows older,... Read More
Harrowing, evocative, and timely, this 2023 Booker Prize winner takes listeners on a deep dive into what happens when a democracy devolves into totalitarianism. Set in Dublin, the story begins when Eilish Stack finds officers from the secret police at her door, looking for her husband. An undefined-- yet clearly political--emergency is happening, and all the rules pertaining to... Read More
Narrator Rebecca Quinn Robertson offers a gritty portrait of 26-year-old Teddy Angstrom, whose life goes off the rails after her father's suicide. Soon, Teddy discovers that her father never stopped investigating the disappearance of her older sister, Angie, ten years earlier. Teddy decides to pick up the investigation herself and falls headlong into a world of... Read More
Narrators Christine Lakin and Nicole Lewis offer a humbling story on racism in small-town America. De'Andrea, a Black entrepreneur, is heartbroken to leave Atlanta behind when she moves to Rolling Hills, Virginia. Once there, she reluctantly joins the Parent Diversity Committee, run by her enthusiastic white neighbor, Rebecca, at their daughters' school. While the women have... Read More
As a half-Chinese teenager in Shanghai, Alva shared a close bond with her American expat mother but longed for the idealized California life depicted in movies. Jennifer Lim's portrayal of Alva's youthful resentment is colored with both confusion and defiance. Who is her father, and why must they live this half-in/half-out life in China? When Alva's mom marries a much older... Read More
Patricia Shade gives an engaging performance of this debut novel set in a small town in northern Maine. Shade moves easily through a variety of points of view--the book feels more like a collection of interconnected stories than a novel--but she keeps her tone even throughout, giving the story some cohesion. Her lively narration is welcome as the book itself sometimes drags,... Read More
Listeners will appreciate the three distinct voices provided by Natalie Duke, as Darcy; Courtney Patterson, as Marja; and Alex Picard, as Chloe in this novel about an atypical mother-daughter road trip. Two weekends before her wedding, Darcy and her estranged mother, Marja, reconcile for a 2-3 day trip from Austin, Texas, to Chicago. But nothing goes as planned: Marja refuses... Read More
Daniel K. Isaac, Dominic Hoffman, and Shannon Tyo present a layered performance of Park's much anticipated latest. Isaac narrates the audiobook's framing story involving burned-out writer-turned-tech-employee Soon Sheen, who finds a manuscript detailing the "true" history of the Korean Provisional Government. This history, narrated with a mix of passion and poignance by Tyo,... Read More
Dami Olukoya juggles the three central female characters in this audiobook. The lives of these expatriates play out amid the luxury of Singapore. Olukoya moves between Dara, an ambitious lawyer on her way to making partner; Amaka, a banker obsessed with designer brands; and Lillian, the newbie expat wife. Olukoya sets a quick pace, playing up the humor laced throughout the... Read More
This unique collection of 10 short stories gathers together various insights on the Black Muslim experience in America. Amir Abdullah, Chanté McCormick, Soneela Nankani, Leon Nixon, and Jade Wheeler come together to dramatize these widely differing voices. Together, they tackle family issues and sexuality, discrimination and grief. From a daughter who is grieving to another... Read More
The vocal agility of narrator Marisa Blake transports listeners back to the 1950s. Nine-year-old Andrea Rodriguez and her brother are whisked away from Woronoco, Massachusetts, to Puerto Rico by their disinterested single mother and left in the care of relatives. Missing home, they contact their father, Luis, and the three return to Woronoco. Blake aptly narrates Andrea's... Read More
With his lovely Irish brogue, Dan Murphy narrates this follow-up to SOLAR BONES. Nealon, just released from prison, returns to his home in West Ireland, now devoid of his wife and young son and their possessions. Almost immediately, he is telephoned by a mysterious man whom Murphy fills with enough menace and specific knowledge about Nealon to make him and listeners wary of... Read More
Pete Cross uses an arch tone and deliberate pacing to deliver this dark satire of contemporary life. Office drone Melvin Levin's existence is flat as a pancake until he receives an anonymous and seemingly unmotivated death threat in the mail. The threat breaks the spell of his drone life and pushes him into a frenzy of paranoia and frustration, but for the first time in a long... Read More
In stately British tones, Rachael Beresford presents this novella fictionalizing the life of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, a fanatical and virulently anti-Semitic Dominican friar who lived in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century. Beresford's crisp recitation seeps through the life, actions, sermons, and ultimately forced confession of Savonarola at the Inquisition trial that... Read More
This compact yet intense fantasy may confuse many listeners, as well as beguile them. British actor Robert Powell narrates the magical story of an English boy, Joe Coppook, who encounters strange folkloric characters who confound him as he wrestles with the nature of time and of good and evil. Powell shows his theatrical skills in his portrayals. Whimsical characters--such as... Read More
Lincoln Hoppe demonstrates his skills with a stellar narration of this audiobook. His ability to subtly shift his tone and tempo from character to character, giving each a specific voice, makes this immersive novel stand out. Chip, an elderly river guide, has a gruffer, deeper voice than those of the other main characters, Sam and Swami Brecht. In a work with some... Read More
This audiobook reveals that Orange is among the most insightful novelists writing today and a poet of pain. Among this segmented novel's stellar performances, Charley Flyte's reading of Victoria Bear Shield's dramatic monologue to her unborn daughter is a tour de force--a haunting performance with an expressive tone and intimate voice. Alma Cuervo portrays Jacquie Red Feather... Read More
Actor Lili Taylor brings a wry warmth to her narration of Campbell's latest, set in Michigan's Great Massasauga Swamp, where a family contends with secrets and intergenerational trauma. Taylor portrays imperious Hermine Zook, who is raising her 11-year-old granddaughter, Dorothy, nicknamed Donkey, on a secluded island in the middle of the swamp. When tragedy strikes, Donkey's... Read More
Xe Sands pulls listeners into this thought-provoking story about family, grief, aging, and connection. Rachel Calloway, a divorced, childless, 50-something environmental journalist from Washington, DC, returns home to Maine following her mother's death. With vivid descriptions and well-developed characters, listeners find themselves witnesses to Rachel's journey as she revisits... Read More
Karissa Vacker and Hillary Huber deliver excellent performances in this gripping audiobook. The story, set in the Adirondacks, evokes themes of empowerment, personal growth, and discovery as it depicts emotional insights and decades-spanning intrigue. Vacker voices failed screenwriter Rowan, who discovers a mysterious handbook that may have something to do with a woman who went... Read More
Multitalented Imani Jade Powers narrates this panoramic coming-of-age novel about a Parisian teen named Delphine. The story, told in the first person, transports listeners from war-torn Paris to Harlem, to Havana just prior to Castro, and then back to France. Delphine is not a particularly likable heroine, but her drive captures one's imagination. She is obsessed with meeting... Read More
Alison Campbell poignantly presents a rural English community whose disparate residents are fighting attempts by developers to close their social housing. Listeners join curmudgeonly Matilda, 90 years old, and Connie, age 29, who is fleeing a violent boyfriend. When hoarder Matilda collapses while feeding her menagerie of goats, cats, and chickens, Connie, who has been... Read More
André Santana's impressive narration deals with one family's contemporary problems. Cecily, a college instructor, is currently under investigation for sexual misconduct with a student. Her manic mother, Dorothy, is trying to get her life on track with the assistance of a self-help guru by opening a spiritual retreat in Woodstock, New York. And her Uncle Tom is so obsessed with... Read More
Greta Jung performs these science-fiction stories from National Book Award finalists Bora Chung and translator Anton Hur. In one story, an elevator falls in love with one of the residents in its building. In another story, a robot tries to survive in a postapocalyptic world in which humans are nearly extinct. Jung narrates the audiobook with deep understanding of the characters... Read More
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