HIGH AS THE HORSES' BRIDLES

Adam Grupper does a good job of channeling Josiah Laudermilk, a 7-year-old preacher at a revival meeting in 1980s New York. The youngster projects all the evangelical fervor his preaching family is known for. Fast forward to 2007: No apocalypse has occurred, and he's now Josie, living on the West Coast, estranged from his faith and family. Grupper injects a weary cynicism into Josie's voice as he returns east to make peace with his father, his past, and his history. Finally, the story shifts to 1801 Kentucky, where the family's tradition of evangelical preaching began. Grupper gives personality to the young Laudermilk and to Cotton, the man who saves him, but cannot overcome the story's disjointedness. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2014]