New Reviews by Title: P-T

Macy recounts, with a sense of gratitude and plucky amusement, her escape from poverty and alcoholism in small-town Ohio with the help of her staunch mother, supportive teachers, and a generous Pell Grant. She wants to know what it would take for a poor, ambitious kid to do the same these days and concludes that the barriers have multiplied to a nearly insurmountable level. And... Read More

In this latest from Preston and Child, Jefferson Mays completely immerses himself in the character of A.X.L. Pendergast, taking him back to his first case as a probationary FBI agent. After 22 previous adventures, Mays still manages to add nuance and subtlety to the enigmatic hero, making him as intriguing as ever. A close look at Pendergast's man-of-all-work, Proctor, begins... Read More

Rosalyn Landor is masterful narrating this debut fantasy. Marta finds herself on a quest to save her world. Together with a band of disparate compatriots, she sets out to find and restore mystical gemstones to bring the Pentark back to life and save the Isle of Sphere from an evil lord and the Prince of Darkness. Marta's principal companions are a badger and a pair of elves but... Read More

The subtitle of this short, inspiring listen could be: "Pep talks from your favorite writers." Maggie Smith and Saeed Jones have put together a vibrant collection of short essays and poems about how to keep going in times that feel impossible. Many of the writers read their own contributions. Highlights include beautiful poems read with raw emotion by Tiana Clark, Victoria... Read More

Latronico's novel is more social commentary than a work of fiction. Narrator Sophie Roberts describes the vacuous existence of a millennial couple who spend most of their lives online as graphic designers for websites. The narration is crisp, and the tone, pitch, and pacing are adapted to the documentary style of this exposé on the habits, interests, and values of an... Read More

Earphones Award winner Rachel L. Jacobs narrates this character-driven story, an evocative coming-of-age chronicle of a suburban Chicago teenager who is graduating from high school in 1974. Listeners will hear the recollections of 70-year-old Phoebe as she looks back on a critical period and her vivid, youthful reactions to those life-changing events. The story delves into... Read More

Listeners' interest is immediately piqued by Lou, a begrudging medium whose encounters with the dead are as normal as taking out the trash. As the Veil that separates the living from the dead things and a cult of necromancers descends upon Lou's adopted town of Magnolia Grove, listeners fully experience her mounting tension through Cat Protano's narration. Protano's vivid,... Read More

Kevin R. Free highlights the narrative throughline of this detailed history. Listeners may not be familiar with Charles Garland, but the fund he established in the early 1920s continues to have an impact on American society. When Garland determined that his substantial inheritance should be used to strengthen society through major social causes, the result was initiatives like... Read More

Narrator Sudha Bhuchar unfolds this sweeping epic, which depicts the struggles of Charu, a woman whose family has been sustained by India's railway system over the generations following the nation's independence in 1950. Now she too works for the railway and navigates the complexities of the twentieth century. Bhuchar portrays Charu and those who cycle in and out of her life... Read More

Freddy Carter and Emily Carey continue their compelling performances in the second installment of the City of Fantome series. As Sera explores her new powers amid the Order of Flames, Ransom struggles with leading the Order of Daggers. While both are trying to protect their kingdom, they are drawn back to the city of Fantome when the king orders them to settle their rivalry and... Read More

The dynamic and deliberate voice of David Rintoul is the perfect choice for this sequel to Forsyth's 1972 novel The Odessa File. Fifty years after journalist Peter Miller exposed the underworld of a Nazi terrorist group (Odessa), grandson Georg Miller takes on an investigation of the latest terrorist attack in Germany and links it all back--only this time it is "Medusa" he must... Read More

Kristin Atherton is the absolute right choice to narrate this riveting and complex history of the rise of global terrorism. The research provided here is ambitious, providing a clear-eyed, deeply considered history of the nature of terrorist acts, the motivations for which were hard for news broadcasts of the 1970s to fully capture. Atherton's narration never wavers as Burke... Read More

Narrator Amber Dekkers guides listeners through the trials and tribulations of the relatively unknown writer Sanora Babb. Her life began with an abusive and impoverished childhood in eastern Colorado. As an adult in California, she associated with creatives such as Ray Bradbury, James Wong Howe, and Ralph Ellison. Her own writing, however, was often pushed aside and ignored.... Read More

Stacy Gonzalez, Jasmin Walker, and Kim Ramirez breathe life into Straight's poignant account of the lives of Larette, Cherrise, and Marisol, ICU nurses who are working during the Covid-19 pandemic. Shaun Taylor-Corbett offers a glimpse of a man on the outside. Early in 2020, isolated in small trailers in San Bernardino, Calif., the three exhausted women deal with their fears of... Read More

Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner expertly perform a dual narration of a contemporary paranormal romance audiobook. What do you do when the guy you went on one date with haunts you--literally? Or when your late fiancée's spirit is still around five years after her death? You team up with your newfound fellow hauntee. As Morgan and Sawyer work together to discover their ghosts'... Read More

Bahni Turpin shines in this richly layered, multigenerational story of family secrets and the history that shapes all of us. In a story told from multiple perspectives over multiple timelines, Turpin creates believable distinctions between a wide range of characters and time periods. Set in Chicago in 1995, the main storyline focuses on Tali, a 14-year-old trying to find out... Read More

Film and stage veteran Hugh Jackman and promising newcomer Ella Beatty perfectly find the nuance, tension, and naturalism in the voices of a small-town college English professor who slides into the "horrible predictability" of an affair with a bright 19-year-old coed. It's certainly not a new tale, but Jackman and Beatty are more than capable of wrestling with the complex... Read More

Edoardo Ballerini convincingly portrays thugs, a torch singer, all manner of gumshoes; he does Hungarians, Germans, English elites. His vocals are spot-on. The wildly imagined plot begins in Milwaukee and then shifts to Eastern Europe. Hicks McTaggart, a former strike breaker, now a private eye, likes to dance and to romance--until he runs afoul of the Milwaukee mob. Much of... Read More

Narrator Michael Vallely's soft, melodic Irish brogue is an ideal match for this memoir chronicling Waldron's adoption of a border collie named Oscar in rural Ireland. Oscar enters Waldron's life during a pivotal time after his father's sudden death, providing comfort and quickly becoming part of the family. Waldron's relatable processing of his grief is interwoven with... Read More

This dramatized audiobook adaptation delivers immersive romantasy with cinematic flair. The story follows Odessa Cross, an overlooked spare princess forced into an unwanted political marriage tied to an ancient blood treaty, monsters, and warring kingdoms. As she journeys through dangerous lands, Odessa begins to question her role as queen, spy, or sacrifice, and she slowly... Read More

Narrator Ben Cura wades through this hypnotic, surreal novel with gravity. This suits the opening, as Nicholas, a young Brit fleeing London, departs for sun-dappled Italy and the maelstrom of Fellini and Pasolini's film sets. Cura's seriousness persists throughout Nicholas' love affair with a costumer, the revelations of his dark past, and Laing's dreamy vignettes of Rome's... Read More

The three narrators' performances are so exquisitely skilled that this audiobook is irresistible. Grant is an FBI agent working in predictive analytics who's been assigned to investigate the case of a deadly industrial explosion. The curveball: Sara, a hypnosis therapist, reports that her client, Marigold, described the event before it happened. During subsequent treatment... Read More

Classically trained British actor Alex Jennings effortlessly captures the urbane tones, cutting intelligence, and stoic wit of a gay English-born English professor dealing with the loss of his longtime partner. It's the early 1960s, and seismic change is in the air at the professor's suburban California college--from the Cuban missile crisis to his students discovering sex and... Read More

This audiobook is a unique combination of women's fiction and Southern gothic, and narrator Jenn Lee's voice perfectly matches the creepy ambiance of this story. Green's novel relates the loosely connected life stories of several women with ties to a small town in eastern Louisiana. Lee's impassioned voice follows the women at different stages of their lives as she expresses... Read More

Narrated by an ensemble cast, this audiobook explores the lives, successes, failures, and frailties of a half-dozen friends from the early 2000s to 2024. The novel's narrators are all talented and capture the millennial characters' struggles well. Jill Paice performs Mia, a writer who is the only single person in the group, with fine tempo and pacing while conveying her angsty... Read More

At age 18, when Priscilla Presley married one of the most famous men in the world, Elvis Presley, she was uncertain where her life would take her. In this memoir Presley's voice resounds with clarity and energy. She wants to set the record straight about a lot of things, including her personal experiences with Elvis; their late daughter, Lisa; and her granddaughter, actor... Read More

January LaVoy performs this heartfelt small-town romance. When former musician Merritt Valentine had a mental breakdown 10 years ago, she left glamorous Los Angeles and hasn't looked back. Since then, she's been healing while living with her sister in a small Colorado town. Merritt never expected to have a crush on her local contractor, Niko Petrakis. However, the more time... Read More

In this celebratory retrospective of Dolly Parton's career, the singer-songwriter delivers stories of her life and music in her bright, warm voice and distinctive country twang. Coauthor and narrator Tom Roland joins narrators Charlie Chase and Lorianne Crook (both TV and radio hosts) in providing biographical transitions and prompts for Parton. Crook adds humor as Parton... Read More

A talented team of narrators immediately pulls listeners into this compelling audiobook. The story centers around the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that has survived the hurricanes that ravage St. Menard's Bay, Alabama. In the present day, Geneva Corliss is the innkeeper trying to keep her family business afloat. Journalist August Fletcher arrives along with Lo Bailey to... Read More

Sarah Agha captures Meryem's restless inner life as the 25-year-old supermarket intern navigates long shifts, open hostility with her boss, and uncomfortable dates. As Meryem retreats into writing fan fiction about her coworkers, Agha distinguishes neatly between the monotony of Meryem's work life and the heightened tone of her imagined romances and rivalries. Agha lets the... Read More

Woodson's tone is soft and gentle as she reads her picture book about Sarah's adjustment to her grandfather's death. Sarah's family's sweet remembrances recall vividly the wisdom of a tender man who reminded all of them that "everything and everyone goes on and on." This refrain occurs throughout, reminding listeners and reinforcing the audio's central theme. Woodson's dialogue... Read More

World War II buffs won't be disappointed as narrator John Hopkins capably delivers this account of the British landing on the easternmost beach of the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. Hastings, a well-known British military historian, switches from his usual mile-high view of events to a ground-level view. He gives splendid descriptions of the preparations for the landing, the... Read More

A dynamic ensemble of all-star narrators brings to life these stories assembled--and in one case, published--for the first time. Representing Sanderson's writing experimentation and growth over the course of 25 years, they feature worlds in which reality is unstable and characters move freely through simulations, universes, and bodies. The narrators are impressively well... Read More

Marian Hussey's narration is a standout. Set after the goblin war, the story centers on Dara, the Hawkmaiden, as she navigates uneasy peacetime, questioning her purpose while confronting a disturbing necromantic threat emerging near her home. The story balances emotional introspection with romantic tension and genuine danger, offering meaningful growth for Dara and adding depth... Read More

Rebecca Lowman and Paul Michael provide the main narration of this audiobook, set in contemporary Los Angeles. With a deep timbre and the mannered cadence of a Golden Age Hollywood actor, Michael portrays Verity, an aging A-list movie star. Dismayed by the endless opportunities his fame affords him, Verity sets up a lottery of his film salary to be awarded to one moviegoer.... Read More

Cobie Smulders delivers an authentic and captivating performance that anchors this audiobook. The story follows a family whose lives are upended when their memoir about raising a child with Down syndrome is optioned for a Hollywood film. Sharp, genuine writing draws listeners into this exploration of identity, family bonds, and the tension between truth and adaptation. Josh... Read More

Rebecca Calder's narration drives this surreal tale about "antimemes" that can attack memory and identity. With precision and controlled energy, Calder shapes an audio experience that highlights the text's clever constructions and unsettling logic. Calder's clear articulation and confident pacing make rapid conceptual shifts feel purposeful, helping listeners absorb the... Read More

Kevin R. Free portrays the dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in a fine style as he delivers selections from Cobb's reporting, commentaries, and observations. Free's pace and tone give the man his due. As Cobb astutely navigates the period from 2012 to 2024, he explores the wider meaning of the killings of unarmed Black men and bears witness. Looking farther... Read More

This epic audio history traces the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and George Meade, culminating in their confrontation at the Battle of Gettysburg. While many listeners might be well acquainted with Lincoln and Lee, there is plenty of new detail about each. Meade is less well known and comes to life in this audiobook. Narrator Vas Eli does a solid job. He carries the... Read More

An outstanding ensemble of narrators delivers six short stories, all involving time travel. Jonathan Davis' narration of "For a Limited Time Only," about a time-traveling salesman who is denied a job transfer, is made particularly poignant by his strong, emotionally charged delivery, especially as the main character learns the reason for his transfer denial. "A Visit to the... Read More

Drout, professor of English and director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, narrates this deeply researched and remarkably comprehensive examination of Tolkien's genius. Drout's strong, sonorous voice is the perfect vehicle for sharing his own findings, imbuing the audio with deep meaning and a full understanding of both his own work and that of... Read More

Daniel K. Isaac's performance reminds listeners that there's always more than meets the eye in seemingly charming small towns. In Griffin, New York, the unseen has started bubbling to the surface. Listeners become immersed in the town's conflicts over a congressional race, struggles with addiction, history of ignorance and prejudice, and present-day gentrification. The complex... Read More

In 1943 a select group from the upper echelons of German society gathered at a tea party. They hated what Germany had become under Hitler, and they resolved to stop him. Author and narrator Jonathan Freedland engages listeners in this little-known story of Nazi resistance. His narration is both articulate and steady. His voice drives the narrative with energy, infusing... Read More

This autobiographical novel, originally published to little fanfare in 2001 and long out of print, has been championed by influential queer poet Eileen Myles and reissued with their introduction. A coming-of-age story and picaresque novel set in the 1970s and '80s, Tramps is narrated by Joe, who flees a tyrannical and abusive father in Kansas City to explore the bars,... Read More

Christina Delaine narrates this carefully researched and sympathetic biography of Jessica "Decca" Mitford, the most radical of the famous British sisters, with great authority. Delaine works hard to reproduce the uncomfortably strangulated accent of the English aristocracy, enhancing the frequent quotations from letters and from Mitford's prolific journalism. Widowed as a young... Read More

Leighton Pugh's resonant baritone and evenly paced performance help orient listeners in this detail-packed novel. The alternate-history story posits that famed WWII mathematician Alan Turing invented a machine that he used to influence the location of the Normandy Invasion after the fact. The time machine is then passed to his son (born of a one-night stand with a female friend... Read More

James Marsters' weary delivery perfectly captures Harry Dresden's fractured psyche as he navigates a year of mandatory mourning and political maneuvering in Chicago. Marsters doesn't just read; he inhabits Harry's exhaustion, using deliberate pacing and a somber tonal palette that underscores the protagonist's post-traumatic stress. Marsters' gift for distinct vocal... Read More

Three capable narrators blend seamlessly in this audiobook performance. As the title implies, the two main characters--devoted to one another from childhood--endure trials that force their destinies apart. This story explores their star-crossed experiences against the backdrop of Victorian society and tinges the tale with the drama and spiritualistic air of the time period. The... Read More