Audio Reviews: Week of 4/28/2008

Scott Brick doesn't have to do a lot of vocal calisthenics to bring Tucker's compelling story line to life. The award-winning narrator knows he need only adjust his tone and timbre ever-so-slightly to distinguish the novel's numerous characters. As the story is told from the point of view of three different characters, Brick is usually inside the head of each narrator, so listeners don't need a lot of overt vocal cues. Tucker's fourth novel is ambitious in scope and topic, but achingly intimate. She dares to have characters grapple with social issues such as poverty, addiction and corruption in the pharmaceutical business, but never lets the hot button issues overshadow her fascinating, fully-dimensional characters. Brick doesn't miss any of the novel's sly humor and happily embraces scenes of casual sarcasm. And when several of the novel's dramatic twists are revealed, Brick is peerless in his ability to break listeners' hearts with his emotion-choked restraint. Simultaneous release with the Atria hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 5). (Apr.)

Mixing crime and humor is hard: a delicate balance must be maintained between the clever and the cute, between the cheap cackle and the meaningful guffaw. Dorsey is a master of this high-wire act, and reader Oliver Wyman makes a perfect partner. Dorsey's 10th caper about serial killer Serge A. Storms gives Wyman the chance to show off his amazing vocal range. He starts with a snidely funny old woman (”We call Viagra 'granny abuse,' ” she says) recounting for a TV crew what happened when Serge and his mob of Florida misfits took over a cruise ship she was on. A flashback to the planning stage finds Serge (a smart, edgy and somewhat whiny voice) and his dumber colleague Coleman setting up the deal. There's a gorgeous stripper named Rachel, assorted villains and a passel of DEA agents and other cops. Wyman balances them all with ease, giving listeners who like their comedy bloody and bawdy lots of fun. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 3). (Mar.)

William Dufris provides an appealing down-home delivery to his narration of Hockensmith's third adventure featuring the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson–emulating brothers, Gustov “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer. The summer of 1893 finds the cow-punching detectives out of work, out of funds and out of sorts as they try to navigate wicked San Francisco. When an old acquaintance from their short time with the railroad is murdered, the brothers use their “detectiving” and “deducifying” skills to search for the killer. The investigation leads them deep into Chinatown, where they encounter ruthless hatchet men, Chinese crime lords, dark opium dens, corrupt cops and deadly tongs. Dufris imbues “Big Red” 's Watsonesque narration with a twangy cornpone accent that borders on caricature, but enhances the laugh-out-loud humor laced throughout. He impressively drops the accent quickly and completely to portray the wide variety of characters populating this highly entertaining romp. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 5). (Mar.)

A cast of four narrators (plus one extra for the epilogue) read Picoult's latest melodramatic take on an interesting social dilemma. Death-row inmate Shay Bourne, convicted of murdering a little girl and her cop stepfather, wants to donate his heart to the little girl's sister, who requires a transplant. ACLU lawyer Maggie Bloom (voiced by Danielle Ferland) and Fr. Michael Wright (played by Stafford Clark-Price) attempt to carry out Shay's wishes. Meanwhile, as apparent miracles begin happening in the prison, some wonder if Shay is some sort of messiah. As the overlong book drags on, the narrators do their best to keep the story moving and hold listeners' interest. Ferland effectively inhabits Maggie and James Frangione's calm baritone does much to engender sympathy for Shay's fellow inmate, Lucius. However, listeners may have a tough time getting to the painfully obvious revelation of the truth about Shay's crimes and the book's long-foregone conclusion. Simultaneous release with the Atria hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 21). (Mar.)

A taut and suspenseful thriller that follows Ben Dibbuk as he unravels a mysterious plot against him initiated by his own wife, Mosley's latest effort is captivating. Richard Allen's reading, however, is not quite suitable—not because he isn't clear or doesn't reads well, but because his deep and rich tone that sounds almost classically trained doesn't suit the common, everyman character of Dibbuk. Allen's narration creates a disconnect from the story, and he fails to capture the essence of this thrilling tale with characters whose voices only vaguely resemble those of Mosley's text. Though there is an underlying tension created at the very onset of the story, Allen is simply not the right choice for this particular reading. Simultaneous release with the Bloomsbury hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 15). (Mar.)

Corpses may pile up in Robinson's thrillers about Yorkshire Chief Insp. Alan Banks and his now former lover, Det. Insp. Annie Cabbot, but rock and roll will never die. In Robinson's 17th novel, named for a Grateful Dead song, Banks frequently departs from his sleuthing to listen to enough rock anthems that it seems odd for an audio version to limit its music to just a few seconds of ominous introductory notes. Prebble's pitch-perfect rendition clarifies a complex tale of two serial murders that harks back to an earlier Banks-Cabbot investigation. His narration remains on cue and unruffled even when describing a paraplegic's severed neck (victim number one), the brutalized corpse of a beautiful young girl (victim number two) or Annie Cabbot's sad fall from grace at the end of a very boozy evening. Robinson's yarn comprises intriguing police procedure and the even more intriguing personal and professional relationships of his investigators. It's an engaging medley, and Prebble's vocal expertise makes it sing. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 8). (Mar.)

With a perfect ear for dialogue, Bobby Cannavale sounds like he grew up on the same patch of New York's Lower East Side that Price so effectively captures. It's a neighborhood in the midst of gentrification where an unplanned late-night murder of a truculent yuppie bartender by a teenage wannabe gangsta affects the lives of an assortment of disparate Manhattanites. Chief among them are Matty Clark, a dedicated and honorable detective, and Eric Cash, a restaurant manager temporarily accused of committing the crime. As Clark, Cannavale adds just the right mixture of weariness and frustration. He adds dimension and surprisingly subtle touches to all of Price's already rich characters—Clark's patently insincere superior officer, Cash's humane employer, a smarmy actor and, most importantly, the sad, angry, poetry-scribbling killer and the victim's omnipresent guilt-ridden, wraithlike father. Better yet, Cannavale delivers Price's sometimes mind-boggling slanguages (including cop-speak, Ebonics and a sort of restaurateur rap) as smoothly, effortlessly and clearly as an expertly trained Old Vic thespian interprets lines from the Bard. Simultaneous release with the FSG hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 21). (Mar.)

A local busybody and amateur sleuth, Julia Springer Murdoch tackles the disappearance of three of her friends' husbands and a plan to turn the old North Carolina courthouse into condos. Although Cynthia Darlow has read other Miss Julia novels, she doesn't sound like a native Tarheel. All of Julia's female friends sound pretty much alike, especially during rapid-fire verbal exchanges. Despite differences in social background, they all drawl out their sentences and place interrogative emphasis and extra syllables on important and final words. The Black women (who all seem to work as housekeepers) have deeper voices and poor diction. Except for references to Viagra and automobile accidents, the novel could be set in the antebellum South. Darlow keeps the tone light and quick, but the audio doesn't end quite fast enough. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 7). (Mar.)

David Timson reads Dickens's last complete novel with a sense of fun. As always, Dickens creates a fabulous array of characters: the nouveau riche Veneerings, the dwarf who makes doll clothes, the bizarre schoolmaster, and the abysmally poor who trawl the Thames for bodies or daily sift the dust and dirt of Victorian England for a skimpy living. Timson's dramatic talents add dimension to each personality—just the sort of acting that makes an audio experience so satisfying. Naxos has done a fine job of abridging the book (Timson also reads the unabridged version on 28 CDs). Not much is lost in terms of plot and characterization, and Dickens's great satiric and social themes come through clearly: the plight and misery of the poor and the greed and heartless stupidity of the rich. If the abridgment seems a bit disjointed, it simply follows the novel's narrative style. This is a wonderful listen for Dickens fans and novices alike. (Mar.)

Though Archer's new novel is a porridge that mushes The Count of Monte Cristo together with The Prince and the Pauper, Roger Allam gives an award-worthy performance in this crisply paced production. Most challenging is that the main character thinks like East Ender Danny, but often speaks like the nobleman Nick. Allam slides gracefully between the two accents. He also performs the many voices of an unwieldy cast of lawyers, judges, Swiss bankers, guards, police officers, a bartender, a house cleaner and a soap star actor. Sometimes, Allam takes some shortcuts, such as giving all the judges sniffy voices, but he delights in individualizing the better drawn minor characters like Big Al, a former Scottish soldier, and Larry Hunsucker, a Texas oilman and philatelist. A bonus interview reveals little about Archer, except for his spending 300 hours on a draft. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 14). (Mar.)

Kinsella's engaging tale of a woman who loses her memory of the past three years after an accident and tries to put the pieces together, only to discover that her life inexplicably underwent a Cinderellaesque transformation in those three years, shines on audio. Charlotte Parry's delightful first-person narration makes Lexi such an immensely likable character that listeners will want to spend time with her. Parry voices the other characters precisely: Lexi's snobbish husband, Eric; her vague and fluttery mother, breathless and shallow socialite Rosalie, and an assortment of friends and co-workers. Each characters is vividly brought to life in a distinctive way by Parry's superb narration. This lively, entertaining chick lit audiobook is the perfect choice for beach listening. Simultaneous release with the Dial hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 17). (Mar.)

Black is better known as the Booker Prize–winning author John Banville. Timothy Dalton is better known as the guy who used to play James Bond. Their collaboration on this mystery novel, the second in Black's Quirke series, offers an excellent opportunity for Dalton to flash his acting chops. Dalton's reading is hushed, intense and dramatic, read as if being performed onstage. This risky approach ends up melding perfectly with Black's atmospheric whodunit, with Dalton underscoring the literary quality of the prose. Dalton drops to a whisper nearly every other sentence, but it is the kind of whisper that penetrates the eardrums of even the duffers in the back row of the theater. The acted approach—Dalton playing every role, embodying every voice—is not always perfect, but the partnership between author and narrator is a definite success. Simultaneous release with the Henry Holt hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 7). (Mar.)

Though he practices veterinary medicine in Boston, Trout hails from the U.K., so it's fitting that fellow Brit, Simon Vance, narrates. At a couple of points early in the recording, Vance stumbles slightly in bringing to life a few minor figures with pronounced regional American accents. He quickly regains his stride and settles on a style that conveys exact emotions appropriate to the frenetic pace of a large urban animal hospital. With Vance's smooth delivery, Trout's informative asides about the state of his often romanticized and largely misunderstood profession flow nicely into the action. The dramatic tension reaches a climax worthy of ER or Grey's Anatomy, and Vance's portrayal of one family soap opera featuring a lonely widower hoping for a miracle to save the life of his beloved German shepherd and the man's type-A personality daughter angrily dismissing Trout as a misguided purveyor of false hope, proves especially electrifying. Simultaneous release with the Broadway hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 24). (Apr.)

This meticulous exploration into comics and the censorship campaigns of the late 1940s and 1950s proves interesting and accessible to even neophytes of comics. Hajdu reveals a complicated and controversial history interlacing public opinion and “research” on the effects of comics by cultural critics such as Sterling North and Frederic Wertham with interviews of artists, publishers and consumers of comics at the time. Stefan Rudnicki's deep gravely voice with its smooth release and pace compliments the sometimes exhaustive Hajdu. However, Rudnicki's quoting voice can be both tiresome and questionable as he instills accents that are not necessarily suggestive from the text, and often they are indistinguishable from other similarly accented voices. Surprisingly, though the topic is highly visual in nature, listeners won't necessarily feel they are missing out on the illustrations and photos in the book. Simultaneous release with the FSG hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 10). (Apr.)

Noted religion scholar and agnostic Ehrman explores the divergent array of biblical perspectives on the essential question of suffering. Ehrman also traces his own journey from belief to doubt as he puts forth a case for why both Old and New Testament teachings fail to reconcile the concept of a loving God with the reality of human misery. L.J. Ganser, a 2005 Audie winner for Russell Shorto's The Island at the End of the World, sets an animated professorial tone that is appropriate to both the weighty nature of Ehrman's argument and the author's wry, irreverent commentary. Ironically, the musical interludes between the discs—coupled with Ehrman's extensive Scriptural readings—evoke a Sunday School vibe. Ganser gives voice to Ehrman as a thoughtful curmudgeon in the national dialogue about faith; a figure whose challenges to orthodoxy somehow manage to steer clear of the caustic polarization that characterizes much of the current culture war. Simultaneous release with the HarperOne hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 3). (Mar.)

Bertinelli offers a peek behind the sunny facade the popular TV star has long projected about her life and a showbiz career that began at age 14. She narrates her personal memoir with an honest, straightforward and simple reading that matches her writing style. Her story is at times shocking, emotional and uplifting as she opens up about her weight struggle, drug use and marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen. Bertinelli tells her life story with such enthusiasm and earnestness that it comes off as less of a reading and more of an intimate conversation. The only downside is that she tends to race through much of the story, sometimes making it hard for listeners to keep up. Bertinelli's story is appealing across gender lines, a powerful account about a surprisingly tumultuous life in the spotlight. Simultaneous release with the Free Press hardcover. (Mar.)

With meticulous research and a masterful blending of information, Harris delivers a detailed and intriguing exploration into the significance of the five films nominated in 1968 as Best Picture for the Oscars (Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night). Harris illustrates how the nominated films represented a paradigm shift in Hollywood and the country. From the origins and finessing of the scripts to the selection (or rejection) of the principal actors along with all the typical Hollywood folklore, Harris weaves the narratives of each film into one cohesive story, clearly detailing how these films were interconnected and how each reflected the changing mood of the country. In a light, calm and reassuring voice, Lloyd James reads almost flawlessly. Despite the presence of numerous popular actors in the account, James resists the urge to do impersonations and instead lets the person's words speak for themselves. This outstanding audio is intriguing, lively, entertaining and educational. Simultaneous release with the Penguin Press hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 29). (Mar.)

Twenty-four notable writers and comedians, like Stephen Colbert, Neal Pollack, Dan Savage, Todd Hanson and Andy Richter, comment on the mysteries and intricacies of relationships. The essays are funny, crude, often hilarious, and occasionally unexpectedly moving, ruminations on the male/female conundrum. Some stories are of straightforward rejection (like Will Forte's “Beware of Math Tutors Who Ride Motorcycles”) while others take a different bent. Larry Whitmore's “Women Are Never Too Young to Mess with Your Head” charts his efforts to win his newborn daughter's love as she screams and cries whenever he holds her. David Wain and Zandy Hartig enact a laugh-out-loud series of phone vignettes in “Persistence Is for Suckers” that follows Wain's frustrating attempts, over several months, to secure a date with a woman he met at a party. Like any collection, not every piece is on target, but the majority of the stories hit the humor bull's-eye. Simultaneous release with the Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 10). (Mar.)

Hari's harrowing and stunning memoir recounts life in the Sudan during one of the most widely neglected and horrifying events in human history. Mirron Willis brings a subtle reality to the touching story through his simple yet incredibly understated performance. Read with a just-right Sudanese dialect, Willis becomes Hari from the very beginning, bringing listeners into the story slowly by relating the beauties of his former home before the helicopters arrive late one night in 2003. The result is a story of survival in the midst of an intense genocide, heartbreaking yet stunningly uplifting. Willis speaks directly and captivatingly to his listener. This is an important story that speaks to everyone. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (reviewed online). (Mar.)

Chopra brings a familiar calm, contemplative speaking style to the audio version of his latest title, which places the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in a broader spiritual context that synthesizes Eastern and Western concepts. Chopra begins his journey by making a case against traditional Christian notions that emphasize the institutional and dogmatic aspects of the Jesus identity. He then ushers in the “Third Jesus” as a figure who points individuals from all spiritual paths toward an ultimate “God consciousness.” He devotes a large chunk of the recording to outlining key statements and precepts of Jesus that provide invitations for connecting with deeper truths through meditation. Perhaps because of the abridgment process, some of the most salient points in Chopra's conclusion—especially his outsider's take on why liberal voices within established Christianity invariably find themselves losing the internal debate with more conservative elements—seem a little rushed. Yet audiences with eclectic religious interests will welcome Chopra's perspective as an opportunity for building further dialogue. Simultaneous release with the Harmony hardcover. (Feb.)