THE NIGHTMARE

Mark Bramhall follows his success with Kepler's THE HYPNOTIST to envelop listeners in another thriller featuring detective Joona Linna. Linna, listeners quickly learn, has a resolute will and uncanny intuition about crimes and criminals. The vicious world of international arms trafficking is entwined with other crimes to challenge nearly every police agency in Sweden. Bramhall is maestro of the musical cadences of endless Swedish proper names and locations. The unfamiliar words, definite tongue-twisting challenges, are rendered perfectly, or at least perfectly believably to American ears. Bramhall orchestrates the highs and lows of both inflection and emotion, as well as tenderness and terror. He carefully sorts dozens of characters with simple vocal and emotional color, including the teams of police officers. The challenges of this narration are all met—brilliantly. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2013 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2012]