OREGON HILL

Newspaper reporter Willie Black is almost washed up, thanks to his alcoholic self-destruction and recent demotion to the night crime beat. But this mixed-race son of a drug-addicted but loving mother from the Oregon Hill district of Richmond has a gritty sense of integrity. When the grisly murder of a coed is pinned on a local drifter, Black sets out to uncover the real story—and encounters old enemies. Narrator Kevin Kenerly enhances the well-written character of Black with his performance of a writer’s glib vocabulary and a slight Southern accent. Kenerly also renders Black’s mama with a touch of humor and reveals the simmering aggression of a racist cop. He delivers a tone of optimism amid the noir elements. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2013]