DAYS OF FIRE Bush and Cheney in the White House

Narrator Mark Deakins does a fine job propelling one of the first consequential books about the Bush presidency. It's written as a lively, compelling account of the two men who ran the country from 2001 to 2009. Deakins uses his deep, resonant voice to enunciate the author's major points and to make them accessible to a wider audience than just political fans. He doesn't produce any character voices, but that's not necessary as there are too many real people here for that to be practical. For all that Deakins does well, he can't completely surmount the challenge of long narrative passages, sometimes falling victim to waning vigor in the middle of the book. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2013]