NEVER SAY DIE

Nick Cordero gives a crisp, fast-paced reading of this Arctic adventure. Nick Thrasher, an Inuit teenager, goes on a photography journey to the Canadian tundra with his half-brother, Ryan, whom he's just met. The pair face danger, witness the beauty of a caribou migration, and form a lasting bond. But Cordero doesn't do much to differentiate the characters' voices. Furthermore, his terse reading of dialogue leaves the listener feeling disconnected. He does bring out the intensity of the action scenes, such as when the brothers are repeatedly attacked by a vicious "grolar bear" a cross between a grizzly and polar bear. But that intensity doesn't ease up enough during the slower scenes, making the listener wish for a reprieve. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2013]