DRIVING THE KING

Narrator Adam Lazarre-White perfectly conveys the two very opposite voices of 1950s African-American singer Nat King Cole and his driver, Nat Weary, in this novel based on fact. When Cole is attacked on stage by a pipe-wielding man, Weary saves his life. Lazarre-White inhabits Weary as he serves time in a tough Southern prison and then portrays his changed life when he works for Cole. Listeners will feel as if they're privy to conversations in pre-Civil Rights America, a period when buses were boycotted and Cole had to sponsor his own 15-minute program. Most impressive is Lazarre-White's rendering of Cole's lovely, mellow speaking voice. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2015]