18 Based on a True Story

Narrator Ava Erickson shares a taboo romance that might be best summed up by the famous Van Halen song title "Hot for Teacher." Eighteen-year-old Shannon Drake needs to take trigonometry to graduate from high school. Night school teacher Mateo Alesci uses unconventional teaching methods to motivate her--namely sexual games. Erickson's voice has the right timbre for a young woman, although sometimes she sounds too cheerful, given Shannon's recent bereavement and terrible home life. Mateo sounds older and authoritative but vibrant enough to make Shannon's attraction believable. Listeners can hear breathing and other small noises in Erickson's narration. The background levels aren't entirely crisp either. The author shares her own underage activities with older men as part of the recording. Erickson piles on the drama in Huss's forbidden liaison tale. C.A. 2017 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2017]