THE FORTUNE TELLER'S DAUGHTER

Harry Sterling's life has descended into mediocrity. While pretending to write a book while filling a temporary teaching post at a small university in a stagnant north Florida town, he discovers an unlikely potential topic for a real book: a local psychic has implied that a renowned physicist stole the discovery named after him. T. Ryder Smith's round, warm voice delivers a credible performance of Harry's trajectory from sharp-minded former investigative reporter to fuzzy drunk. Smith has the ability to melt into the story while providing careful portrayals of each voice in a multiple-character dialogue so the listener easily identifies each speaker. When Harry becomes drawn to the psychic's relative, Maggie, Smith succeeds at creating questions about her apparent dim-wittedness, and Harry's attraction to her. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2009]