THE FREE

Real people with genuine voices inhabit the work of novelist Willy Vlautin. As narrator, Vlautin uses his world-weary voice and deep emotional connection to create memorable characters like wounded veteran Leroy Kervin and stressed nurse Pauline Hawkins. It's a connection listeners can hear and feel. Vlautin's delivery is slow, with a tone that conveys a subtext of weariness and longing for "something better" for his characters. His descriptions are closer to reportage than imagination, making the characters' journeys even more real and heartbreaking. R.O. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2014]