CROSSING PURGATORY

After a family tragedy, Thompson Grey, whose fate was to live, abandons his home in Indiana on a westward sojourn haunted by grief and regret. Captain Upperdine, a guide for settlers, disrupts Thompson's solitude with an invitation to join his wagon company on the Santa Fe trail. The offer provides purpose and, ultimately, a destination where Thompson's emotional recovery can begin. Narrator William Dufris embraces the Western genre, delivering exposition in a gravelly tone marked by punctuated syllables and drawn-out vowels. With few exceptions, each character--both real and imagined--is immediately recognizable as Dufris blends voice and cadence to shape personality. The deep bass of Captain Upperdine commands attention, while the raspy moans from the ghosts of Thompson's mind unnerve. A.S. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2013]