New Reviews: Fiction

This novel is set in a little known Nova Scotian community of transplanted Jamaicans and individuals of African descent (which is based on the real community of Africville). The story also moves to Montreal, Alabama, and Vermont and spans most of the twentieth century. Robin Miles's narration smooths the sometimes abrupt transitions between episodes so listeners can experience... Read More

This debut novel from a legendary rock star--Pete Townshend, of The Who--is a multigenerational tale of love, loss, and music, narrated by Michael Jayston. The story frames the life of an up-and-coming rocker, Walter, through the guidance and life story of his godfather, Louis. Jayston lends the narrative a heavy dose of gravitas balanced by a personal tone. Characters, who... Read More

In the tradition of ROOM and THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, this story is told from a distinctive point of view--in this case, that of 7-year old Dolly Rust. Narrator Cassandra Morris captures Dolly's youthful exuberance with ease, fairly hopscotching through Dolly's "advanced" vocabulary and self-proclaimed wealth of knowledge and skill. That said, there... Read More

Narrator Deepti Gupta gives life to all the fabulous characters in this story, translated from Hebrew. The audiobook opens with a repeated statement coming from behind a door that has been closed for five hours. This is the only time we get to hear the bride, Margi, speak. "Not getting married," she says, without much emotion. The chaos begins as the appointed hour for the... Read More

Narrator Tim Paige captures the heightened emotions of two protagonists in this literary thriller set in Venice. Twenty-five-year old Nick and his boyfriend, Clay, have a simple plan: to scam an American retiree out of enough money to fund their fresh start. But as they struggle to relinquish their pasts, the scam, and their lives, begin to spiral out of control. Paige's... Read More

Listening to Randye Kaye's narration, one is easily transported into the world of medicine, from both a doctor's and a patient's perspective. Joyce is facing a breast cancer diagnosis, and her daughter, Marnie, is a new surgical resident at a prominent New York City teaching hospital. Kaye captures the essence of each woman's highs and lows by speaking in nuanced tones and... Read More

Neil Gaiman asserted that "short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams." This collection of "tiny windows," performed by narrators as diverse and vivid as the stories themselves, provides glimpses of worlds, minds, and dreams that are tragic, wistful, disturbing, and thought-provoking. The variety of content will entice a wide audience,... Read More

Narrator Susan Bennett offers a moving performance of this multilayered story of two women whose lives are affected by a New Deal art mural. In 1940, Anna, a young artist from New Jersey, faces hostility from the townspeople in Edenton, North Carolina, when she is hired to paint the post office mural. In 2018, Morgan, who is just out of prison, uncovers disturbing details and... Read More

Edoardo Ballerini narrates this gentle and evocative thriller with style. Against the backdrop of post-WWII Italy, an unnamed young man idles away time, putting off his return to work and a more normal life. As he travels around a lake, he meets Orimbelli, with whom he forms a fragile friendship, and they set out on adventures that end in a mysterious tragedy. Ballerini's... Read More

The destructive impact of gun violence comes to life in this stirring audiobook, narrated with intensity by Charlie Thurston. Set in the South, this debut novel reads like a documentary, which is an ideal format for Thurston, whose delivery is reminiscent of the best TV anchormen. The audiobook begins when a student kills 12 people at his university library, using his... Read More

Sofia Quintero's performance of this audiobook is compelling. Listeners are drawn into her first-person portrayal of Marisol, who encourages her nephew, Ramón, to solve a mystery with a twist: Marisol died during the Cuban Revolution, and Ramón is living in present-day New Jersey. Listeners come to know Marisol's ghost, particularly her empathetic voice, which Quintero... Read More

When you contemplate the remains of ancient humans, don't you wish they could somehow talk to you? In this deeply satisfying audiobook, it happens. Australian filmmaker Shelby Apple is obsessed with a 46,000-year-old skeleton called Learned Man. Apple's story alternates with Learned Man's, as he tells us who he was, what he did, and what his death at Lake Learned meant. In Paul... Read More

Narrated by a full cast, this audiobook follows a group of troubled souls who gather in Arizona for spring training with the Los Angeles Lions baseball team. An unnamed, gravelly-voiced sportswriter introduces listeners to Jason Goodyear, the team's all-star outfielder, who is quietly collapsing into personal and financial ruin. This sportswriter periodically reenters the story... Read More

Narrator and humorist John Hodgman brings an arched eyebrow to much of his delivery of this "entertainment" from renowned novelist Eggers. His wicked send-up of Trumpworld follows the downward trajectory of an ill-equipped ship's captain and his hapless crew. Hodgman brings the comic timing of stand-up to the madness and corruption of the less-seaworthy-by-the-minute vessel.... Read More

Narrator Tim Carper presents these seven engaging stories in a soothing voice. In "Comfort and Joy," Carper introduces successful Margaret O'Hara, who simply endures Christmas after the death of her young daughter. Things change when she encounters her stepdaughter, who's dying of AIDS and searching for someone to adopt her 2-year-old daughter. In "911," Carper's compassionate... Read More

Author and narrator Elizabeth Berg effortlessly captures the tone and pacing of her Midwestern characters as they face life stages and contemporary social conflict. What started as a dining club evolves into a support group whose only requirement is that the participants be honest in their confessions. Most poignant are the characters' long-term regrets and abuses, which have... Read More

Piper Goodeve is the ideal narrator for this coming-of-age audiobook. The story is mainly told from the first-person perspective of Evie, who is awaiting the return of her fiancé, Liam, who may be lost at sea. Evie lives on an island off the coast of California with her charming but irresponsible father. Her mother has returned for Evie's upcoming wedding after several years'... Read More

Narrator Cassandra Campbell's exemplary skills keep this novel's many characters and time-shifts in focus. During the Adler family's flight to L.A., where Mrs. Adler writes for television, listeners will become acquainted with the family and other travelers. Campbell introduces the Adler parents, 15-year-old Jordan, and 12-year-old Edward as a close and loving family. Others on... Read More

A fascinating premise is not fully worked out in this audiobook. What happens when the entire African-American population of a Southern state decides to move away? This story focuses more on the moment of departure than on the long-term consequences or the reason for the abrupt, unanimous decision to leave. The story is not helped much by narrator Jay Smooth. His voice is,... Read More

Jesse Ball's chilling dystopian tale is set in a bleak future in which citizens are "pats" who live in fear of the branded "quads," migrants, prisoners, and parolees who are separated from society and seen as something less than human. The story is told in three distinct sections. Sophie Amoss narrates "Ogias' Day" with a mix of curiosity and fear as two students become... Read More

Narrator Madison Lawrence exuberantly introduces 26-year-old Mia West, who is anticipating a proposal from her boyfriend. When the big moment doesn't materialize, Mia spontaneously joins Humanitas, an international organization that helps the needy. Billionaire Lars Lindquist, a well-rendered eccentric, entertains the volunteers on his private island before they depart.... Read More

Narrator Robert Petkoff captures the wit and humor of this award-winning novel, which sheds light on a forgotten piece of Jewish history--and which became a movie. Petkoff easily switches between different accents and distinct voices as he portrays a fictional Jonathan Safran Foer, the work's author and main character, and his friend Alex Perchov, who butchers the English... Read More

This short story is ideal for multiple narrators as it is composed solely of a series of letters. Julia Whelan starts the correspondence as Carrie finds letters to her husband from a woman with whom he is having an affair. Whelan sounds convincingly apologetic when Carrie writes to David, the husband of the "other woman," hoping to find letters from her husband so she might... Read More

Narrator Janet Metzger has her work cut out for her in this confusing audiobook full of Icelandic words, along with two main characters who have similar names, each of whom has a traumatic past and whose paths cross only obliquely. Ellen is a theater prop maker in her 70s with no friends who is obsessed with a young playwright who is the illegitimate daughter of a famous writer... Read More

A diverse ensemble of narrators breathes life into these 22 quirky and genre-bending stories on war, politics, family, and memory. The stories are intimately and compellingly performed as the narrators take turns, beginning with the titular work "Fly Already" and moving to more downbeat works like "The Birthday of a Failed Revolutionary" and to the somber standout, "Pineapple... Read More

Animatedly narrated by Jayme Mattler, this lightly dystopian story brings the listener into a reimagining of post-2016 election events. It tracks two storylines. In 2015-16, best friends Orla, a B-list pop culture writer, and Floss, an ambitious influencer, become the stars of their own reality show. In 2051, Marlow, who grew up in the Truman Show-esque town of Constellation,... Read More

Narrator Anna-Maria Nabirye's warm, rhythmic voice embraces listeners from the first rush of words in this Booker Award-winning kaleidoscope of a novel about a group of interconnected black women in England from the 1980s to today. A playwright for whom being black and lesbian is important; her straight daughter, who doesn't see what the fuss is; a friend who's jaded after... Read More

Narrator Mark Bramhall narrates these stories in measured tones, giving each word maximum value. The novella and five short stories that make up Dan Burns's latest collection all deal with imperfect people finding the blessings of grace where and when they least expect them. Bramhall gives the diverse characters unique voices that illuminate their personalities. Two characters... Read More

Versatile narrator Braden Wright lends his commanding voice to this novel on the life of the apostle St. Paul of Tarsus. The audiobook imagines the life of Paul from his birth as Saul through the transformation that made him a disciple of Christ and ends just before he is to travel to his death. Full of detailed imagery and specific information for the timeframe, the story... Read More

Kathleen McInerney's dynamic narration will have listeners either laughing out loud or cringing as she skillfully captures the absurdity and craziness of this dark comedic debut. Stressed out and overwhelmed, Holly Banks is failing at getting her life together after her husband's job relocates them across the country to the zany village of Primm. With the brisk plot taking... Read More

This audiobook combines an extraordinary story with narrator Karina Fernandez's captivating performance, creating an unforgettable experience for listeners. The seemingly perfect Bird family, led by mother Lorelei, is at the center of Jewell's novel. One Easter their storybook existence is torn apart, and what follows is a series of conflicts and tragedies that transform their... Read More

Joel de la Fuente gives a spectacular performance filled with drama, theatrics, and razzle-dazzle that beautifully showcases Charles Yu's satire of Asians in America, told in a funky screenplay format. Willis Wu's life unfolds like a movie in which he is "Generic Asian Man." Each night he returns to his crowded Chinatown highrise hoping that the next day will bring him closer... Read More

Ana Osorio narrates this timely and relevant work about a young woman struggling to survive amid the political and financial chaos in Venezuela. The audiobook opens with Adelaida Falcon burying her mother. Now alone, Adelaida must find a way to live with the inhumane conditions brought by the political crisis. With her soft voice and Spanish accent, Orsorio vividly renders the... Read More

Dominic Keating narrates a collection of philosophical short stories that ask the listener to question reality. Each new story takes place inside an alternate reality that seems totally real because of Keating's earnest narration. Each story is told in the first person from the perspective of an expert or eyewitness to such things as parallel earths. Keating also narrates... Read More

Narrator Ajjaz Awad becomes the teenage Nofar, full of angst, foibles, and a longing to be seen. Awad's characterization is light, allowing us to hear Nofar's boredom as an ice cream shop attendant. As we feel both pity and amusement at her plight, Awad moves us capably through seemingly inconsequential moments at a rapid pace so that the novel's darker turn comes as a... Read More

Listeners will be transported to the world's most romantic city when Sarah Smith temporarily swaps her small-town American bookshop for one in Paris. She expects a sweet and romantic adventure while strolling the cobblestone streets, but with a surly staff, plummeting sales, a thief in her midst, and an absent boyfriend--her six-month exchange is anything but a holiday.... Read More

A trio of gifted narrators performs this debut novel told from alternating points of view. After her mother, Su Lan, dies, Liya returns to China, the homeland she left as a toddler, and uncovers truths about her parents and her own past. Karen Huie, Francois Chau, and Emily Woo Zeller voice the elderly Zhu Wen, Su Lan's former neighbor in China; Yongzong, Liya's father, who... Read More

Edoardo Ballerini's sensitive narration of Isabel Allende's lyrical prose touches the heart. He heightens the plight of Victor Dalmau, his mother, and his brother's pregnant widow, Roser. This intense saga spans nearly 60 years, following the Dalmaus as they are caught in the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War, when Franco's Fascists overthrow the government. Ballerini adds... Read More

Lisa Flanagan's quiet, reflective delivery is well matched to this coming-of-age story set in Naples. The story is told in retrospect. Heddi, an American, is reminded of her student years in Italy after receiving an unexpected email from Pietro, her first love and the man she lived with in Naples's Spanish Quarter during college. Flanagan successfully navigates one of the major... Read More

Narrator Joel Froomkin's devil-may-care tone perfectly matches the attitude of tall, fair-haired, charismatic Troy Augustus Loudermilk, a young man who wins a prestigious poetry scholarship even though he has never written a poem. In this comic novel, Ives pulls back the curtain on higher education, revealing the scam that people can be taught to write and the calcified... Read More

Leah Gabriella Allen has had a rough life. Having no choice but to escape the violence of her abusive husband, she ends up in the charming town of Rivertown, South Carolina, where she is captivated by a quaint café and its sympathetic owner, Lulu. Narrator Natasha Soudek deftly channels Leah's emotions, reactions, and internal dialogue, adding authenticity to Lowe's novel.... Read More

Nancy Wu uses an arch, knowing tone to narrate this family saga steeped in drama and danger. Gwendolyn and Estella are the spoiled sisters of an upper-class Asian family who must confront past secrets if they hope to survive. Wu perfectly captures the sisters' privileged existence in Indonesia. We are taken into a world of luxury and jealousy, of competition between families... Read More

Fajar Al-Kaisi gives a solid, if at times unmodulated, narration of a timely coming-of-age novel set in Kuwait. Living with the legacy of the Iraqi invasion, Kuwait is being torn apart by sectarian violence among Shias and Sunnis. Three boys of different ethnicities who have been friends from childhood to manhood establish their own gang, Fuada's Kids, to help them navigate the... Read More

Yes, this Marley is THAT Marley. Dickens's perennial staple, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, gets a fascinating prequel with this audiobook, performed with a perfect blend of authenticity and over-the-top caricature by Matthew Lloyd Davies. While this portrait is rendered in darker tones, and Clinch's considerable authorial skill is uniquely his own, the Dickensian touches of quirky names,... Read More

Narrators Karissa Vacker and Shannon McManus voice Meg and Jo in Kantra's updated vision of LITTLE WOMEN. Setting the story in North Carolina in the period after the War in Iraq and an excessive use of coarse language change the flavor of the story. McManus's voice for Meg has a slight Southern accent but is flat and whiny, as she resents all her responsibilities while... Read More

Alena Dillon's debut novel reveals the inequities and injustices wrought by the misuse of power. Stellar performances by an amazing cast peel away layers of pain, abuse, rage, and distrust. Three Catholic nuns in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood run a shelter for women brutalized by the men in their lives. Bishop Hawkins, who believes their work offends Catholic doctrine, is... Read More

Author/narrator Mark Binder conveys the joyful charm of these vignettes set in the mythical village of Chelm. Elderly Rabbi Kibbitz ministers to the village while his wife Mrs. Chaipul (she has kept her widowed name) runs a restaurant. In "New Beginnings," listeners will meet troubled congregants who seek the rabbi's advice, which he wisely permits them to arrive at on their... Read More

Timothy Pabon's smooth and arresting narration offers an intimate look at the lives of several people living in Mexico City who are afflicted by cancer. His precise pacing matches that of the authors in providing elaborate details on the condition of Ramón, whose tongue needed to be cut because of cancer, and Eduardo, who has survived leukemia but has developed several phobias... Read More

This fast-paced and deftly narrated medical thriller-cum-parable packs an emotional punch with a side of gore. Raj Ghatak narrates the story of a surgeon in rural India who one night is visited by a murdered family of three. The undead visitors come to the surgeon with a desperate request, and over the course of the long night, a series of decisions is made and secrets are... Read More

This is a listen for fans of great works of fiction along the lines of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Eskens's novel, as expertly narrated by Kevin Stillwell, is an engaging listen about growing up, friendship, racial injustice, and more. Stillwell does a fantastic job capturing the essence of 15-year-old Boady, who is looking forward to getting out of his small Missouri town. But he... Read More

Narrator Allyson Ryan deftly captures the mix of insight and humor in this first novel about the power of gossip and small-town life in the 1950s. With characterizations that are sharp without being unkind, she introduces us to the inhabitants of Wooster, Ohio, where conventionality dominates the social order on the surface of things. Underneath, of course, people are... Read More

Narrator Prentice Onayemi's soft tones and introspective style highlight the inner turmoil and confusion felt by Tunde Akinola, a first-generation Nigerian-American boy who is trying to make sense of his fractured world. Throughout his childhood, Tunde struggles with loneliness, family instability, and establishing a sense of self, just as his immigrant father struggles to find... Read More

In this 13th audiobook in Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series, life continues in Edinburgh, Scotland, as summer returns. Children endure the challenges of growing up, while adults fall in and out of love amid the stress of their professional lives. This book seems less accessible on audio than in print because it centers on a large number of characters who rarely... Read More

Gifted narrator Hillary Huber introduces listeners to three women whose lives collide after the passing of a bookstore owner named Maddie. Madeline Cullen, Maddie's niece, is voiced in tones of regret and sadness, her fond memories of her aunt having been replaced by the bitterness of a family disagreement never settled. When Madeline inherits her aunt's bookstore, she meets... Read More

Narrator Robert Petkoff continues to demonstrate he's in the top rank of performers with this strange take on money and what people will do once they get it. Imagine a bag of cash falls at your feet as you walk along a city street. Petkoff gives protagonists Graveyard and his wife, Ambience, wry and comic tones as he rattles off all the wondrous possessions and adventures they... Read More

Matthew Lloyd Davies narrates this contemplative audiobook on family, regret, and forgiveness. The story centers on the fraught relationship between a middle-aged brother and sister named Jeremy and Rachel. Rachel, who has been caring for their dying father, contacts Jeremy, who has been living in Paris for many years, to request that he return home to England. Davies... Read More

Narrator Emily O'Brien credibly portrays a woman with a tenuous grasp on reality. After Claire's baby dies, she leaves her marriage, moves to L.A., and begins life anew. She continues to bake birthday cakes, buy Christmas gifts, and imagine that her daughter, Sarah, is still alive. O'Brien is convincing when Claire remarries a man whose daughter is almost the same age as her... Read More

Adenrele Ojo narrates a dystopian coming-of-age story loosely inspired by CANDIDE. Arika Cobane is almost done with her training when she begins to learn unsettling things about the world she thought she knew. Ojo creates a fully believable portrait of 17-year-old Arika. She is incredibly self-assured yet simultaneously naïve and bursting with prickly, desperate potential.... Read More

Stevens, the repressed and self-denying butler at the center of this audiobook, is in some ways one of the most appalling protagonists in all of literature. Not until close to the end does he allow himself to show, or have, an emotion. Nicholas Guy Smith's narration captures the persona that Stevens has constructed without making it completely monochromatic. The novel is the... Read More

Five incredible narrators take turns sharing perspectives in this shocking thriller. Aldrich University's email system is hacked, spilling secrets of students, faculty, and administrators alike. When Kit's husband, Greg, is found murdered, many people, those hacked emails reveal, have a motive. Lisa Flanagan brings a sophisticated tone as dependable Kit through an even pace... Read More

This rich audiobook features two African-American women who are connected by blood but separated by almost a century of cultural differences. Their story depicts resonant themes of trust, race, and the power of women. Narrator Myra Lucretia Taylor portrays Josephine, a slave in Louisiana who became owner of her own farm. In 1924 she recounts her memories--including those of her... Read More

Narrator Ramón de Ocampo's even tone is the perfect match for this quiet historical novel. In 1960s Laos, three teenagers orphaned by war find work at a nearby abandoned field hospital. A doctor there helps them to flee the country, but, separated during the escape, their lives spin out in vastly different directions. The story shifts through time, space, and point of view, but... Read More

Using a crisp French accent, narrator Jane Copland embodies Sister Johanna Marie, the featured character in this introspective Icelandic novel. The French nun tells a story that moves fluidly between her years as a college student in Paris in the 1960s; her investigation of abuse at a Catholic school in Reykjavik, ending in a priest's fall from a bell tower in 1987; and her... Read More

Fresh voice talent Dana Dae leads a cast of 15 actors who deliver a cinematic atmosphere in this intricate story of a family that is vacationing at an exclusive Caribbean resort. While visiting, their 18-year-old daughter disappears and is found washed up on the beach two days later. The circumstances of her death are never solved. Seventeen years later the girl's younger... Read More

Matt Addis's expressive narration brings together an international array of characters and vivid description in this rich collection of stories that are linked through the works of artist Paul Cézanne. Using an unhurried, contemplative pace, Addis captures a sense of walking through a gallery while considering and observing each scene as it unfolds. Addis effectively conveys... Read More

Narrator Grover Gardner and poet-novelist Paulette Jiles are a dazzling combination. This accomplished picaresque novel is set in post-Civil War Texas, a place and time Jiles owns. It's historical fiction of the highest order, transporting the listener to a distant culture and making it both exotic and piercingly familiar. Her tale is in a period style, the story of a rough-cut... Read More

Narrator Bahni Turpin skillfully navigates this collection of stories ranging from science fiction to Caribbean folktales, love stories to journeys of self-discovery. Expertly crafting voices for each character, Turpin weaves tales that showcase Hopkinson's inventive writing--and her own remarkable command of accents. Turpin transforms her delivery to suit the tale she's... Read More

Stewart Crank flawlessly narrates this extraordinary novel, which encompasses the magnificence of nature, those who want to preserve it, and the viciousness of others who are exploiting the natural world regardless of the ecological cost. Listeners will feel at home on the Scottish Highlands as they meet a variety of memorable--often delightfully eccentric--individuals through... Read More

Ramiz Monsef gives a spirited narration of Algren's first novel, published in 1935. Set in Depression-era Texas, this semiautobiographical work concerns the journey of Cass McKay from his home on the Rio Grande in West Texas to Chicago and his interactions there with those who are deep in the underbelly of society. Monsef's voice is amazingly versatile, and he displays great... Read More

Barbara Rosenblat narrates this touching story of food, friendship, and love. Romy and Pia, BFFs, share a Brooklyn apartment. Romy is the cook, but Pia has the looks, so they do a YouTube cooking show with Romy doing behind-the-scenes cooking and Pia being the on-screen talent. Rosenblat is especially fun when Pia meets Nicolo Gia, "Mr. Right," and marries him before he can get... Read More

Juliette Burton's performance of the third volume of Ali Smith's seasonal novels is outstanding. Burton ensures that the characters are distinct and authentic and that we don't miss a single note of the biting wit that pervades this Brexit-era novel. She deftly exhibits the hopelessness that Richard, a director, experiences as he mourns the death of his best friend and... Read More

Sarah Naughton delivers a charming narration of this story about a woman discovering herself as she becomes acquainted with her late mother. Maeve Stephens is recovering from a humiliating breakup, a mugging, and a lost job when she learns that her biological mother, Annabelle, has died. Naughton portrays the overwhelmed protagonist with tender humor, capturing her reluctant... Read More

Delivering this coming-of-age audiobook about friendship, healing, and love, narrator Nick Podehl brings many fascinating characters to life. The story, set in 1969, is told by 14-year-old Lucas, who is coping with insensitive parents, a depressed best friend, and a brother who is serving in Vietnam, as well as the common traumas of adolescence. Podehl has a real talent for... Read More

Narrator Emma Fenney returns as exuberant stylist Amber, who takes on Manhattan with her boyfriend, Rob. Amber books freelance work, and her gigs feature triumphs that alternate with disasters such as wailing children with whiny requests during a kids' photo shoot, which Fenney delivers appropriately. The couple adjusts to living together in a tiny Brooklyn apartment with a... Read More

Narrator Nicole Lewis hooks listeners with her lively pacing and vivid characterizations in this gripping debut audiobook on race, privilege, and money. In an upscale Philadelphia grocery shop, 25-year-old black college graduate Emira is improperly detained by a security guard who refuses to believe that she is the babysitter of her white employer's 3-year-old daughter, Briar.... Read More

This warm audiobook offers multiple impressions of the word "sunshine." First, Sunshine is the name of a place, a hamlet deep in remote Australia. There, characters ably portrayed by Paul English and Katherine Tonkin try to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of The Great War. Immersed in the darkness of survivors' guilt and horrifying memories, they turn their faces toward... Read More

It is difficult to imagine that this extraordinary story could be even better, but Robin Miles's sublime narration accomplishes that feat. In 1958, just before Jamaica's independence, a childless couple adopts an abandoned infant and names him Moshe. His pale skin, mismatched- colored eyes, and hair brand him as unusual in his community, and his racial definition mirrors... Read More

Narrator Graeme Malcolm is convincing when pronouncing Danish place names, a good thing in a Copenhagen-based thriller, and he's not terrible at dialogue. Unfortunately, he seems not to understand that the narrative material between characters' speeches is part of the story and delivers it in an absentminded singsong, as you might the boilerplate at the beginning or end of a... Read More

Narrator Cassandra Campbell leaves her distinctive mark on this audiobook. Her considerable skill with voices and pacing is immediately evident. The novel explores various points of view in a Cambodian family, illuminating moments of tradition and tragedy, hope and desolation. Campbell has no problem maneuvering through the text: Her engagement with the characters and their... Read More

A trio of narrators tackles an ambitious family drama centered in America's heartland. In the late 1990s, high school senior Adam is a lauded debater with aspirations to win a national championship. Two events at this time in his life take place with far-reaching implications, causing Adam to seek out a means of understanding those events, their aftereffects, and his place in... Read More

Lauren Fortgang narrates this dark yet humorous ghost story. Her dry and borderline gloomy tone shapes Tuesday Mooney, who solves a carefully crafted mystery with the help of an eclectic, thrill-seeking group of secondary characters. The group includes her sarcastic late best friend, who pops up at inopportune times. The delight of Fortgang's narration is her ability to make... Read More

Narrator Julia Whelan adds another standout title to her repertoire with this story told in two time frames, past and present. When a family tragedy destroys Katie Cleary's skiing career, she escapes to Buenos Aires and reinvents herself as Liz Sullivan. She soon develops relationships with other expats who are escaping troubled pasts. One of them is an attractive man with... Read More

Narrator Peter Berkrot gives a perfectly pitched performance in this existential take on a midlife crisis. At the funeral of his mildly famous mother, a theologian, Calvin Bledsoe meets his long-lost Aunt Beatrice and embarks on an unexpected adventure across the globe with her. Berkrot's narration is wry and matter-of-fact, providing a counterpoint to the increasingly zany... Read More

The two narrators from WICKED CITY (Book 1 in the series) return to masterfully guide listeners through the continuing stories of two very different women: Ginger (the "Wicked Redhead"), who is living during Prohibition days, and Ella, a modern-day accountant who has recently become single. Dara Rosenberg voices Ginger with a mountain holler twang and a consistently high level... Read More

Nano Nagle delivers this story with confidence, helping to build tension and atmosphere. In modern-day Norway, Bergljot, long estranged from her family, starts to piece together her past and her struggle to be believed. What starts out as an apparent family feud over the inheritance of two lake cabins turns into something much darker. Nagle's strong characterization ensures... Read More

Narrator Ray Lesniewski skillfully presents modest, low-key Herb Knudson, a truck stop cook who accidentally turns into a vampire after a mosquito bites him while he is living it up in New Orleans. From Trappersville, Wisconsin, Knudson is a polite, nerdy guy who leads an uneventful life consisting of bowling, karaoke, and several oddball friends. In addition to portraying a... Read More

Speaking in a broad Aussie accent, Caroline Lee narrates Ham's story of farming in New South Wales. It's a dry place with limited water that is bound to get scarcer. Water is what the farmers fight for in a "no-holds-barred" war for survival. Each character is presented with a slightly different accent and a distinctive attitude--from the wily Neralie Mackintosh, who left her... Read More

Author Laurie Gelman delivers her second in the Class Mom series in a style no less enthusiastic than her first narration. Jen is now responsible for safety patrol supervision, along with her third-grade- class parent duties. Spread thin as her two daughters struggle to find their places in adulthood and her aging parents need more of her attention, Jen laughs through her... Read More