THE SECRET OF MAGIC

This solid audiobook unfolds with methodical precision, and Peter Francis James's voice is well suited to its calm, quiet pace. His is a news anchor's style and tone: deep, resonant, and measured. For the most part, his delivery is appropriate for Johnson's story of prejudice and injustice in the American South. James captures dialogue without sentimentality and maintains a cool distance from the tension that surrounds the murder of an African-American hero of WWII. Sometimes the action slows to such a languid pace that one might grow restless, lulled further by James's reserved performance, but the gripping nature of the story as a whole is likely to keep one engaged. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2014]