Guilty Wives

Narrator January LaVoy keeps the plot moving and listeners engaged in this taut novel of suspense from bestselling authors Patterson and Ellis. Abbie Elliot and three friends, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah, arrive in France for a fabulous and slightly decadent vacation. Everything seems to be going as planned—with wonderful food, spectacular lodging, and plenty of drinking. But things take a dark and terrible turn when, after a particularly exuberant night of partying, the women awake to find themselves under arrest for murder. Tried and convicted, Abbie and her friends are thrown into prison, and the ideal vacation getaway turns into a deadly fight for survival. LaVoy’s narration perfectly matches the authors’ somewhat farfetched but always entertaining prose. She lends the characters unique voices and manages to keep them grounded in reality—something a lesser narrator might not have been able to pull off. And most important, LaVoy never forgets this is a thriller, infusing each chapter with just enough tension to keep listeners glued to their seats. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Mar.)