HOMELAND

The novelty of listening to a narrator perform himself as a character in the audiobook he is reading is charming—but not enough to overcome distracting technical flaws in the production. Wil Wheaton the narrator delivers a scene that includes Wil Wheaton the character as cheerfully and as enthusiastically as he reads the rest of Doctorow’s book about online privacy and technical know-how. This sequel to LITTLE BROTHER follows teenager Marcus Yallow as he continues to fight “the man,” focusing on cyber security. Short clips of rock music lead into each chapter, and Wheaton’s energy reflects the upbeat music. But the consistent mouth and paper noises throughout prove so distracting that listeners may lose track of the plot. G.D. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2014]