The Good Boy 

Daniels delivers a strong performance in his reading of Schwegel’s latest crime novel about Butch, a smart Shepherd-Malinois mix and prime member of the Chicago Police Department’s K9 unit; his partner, officer Pete Murphy, who is doing his best to recover from a recent scandal that threatens his family and his career; and Pete’s son, Joel, a socially awkward but resourceful 11-year-old. When Joel runs afoul of a local bully and his gang, he and Butch end up on the run, forced to navigate the streets of Chicago in search of safety. Although Daniels starts off a little stiff in his narration, he quickly warms to the material and delivers an engaging reading. He keeps the pace taut and suspenseful, but never allows the story to slip into melodrama. Daniels’s characterizations are effectively diverse; he presents each character with an individual voice perfectly suited to age, gender, and ethnicity. A Minotaur hardcover. (Nov.)