cover image Heaven’s Fury

Heaven’s Fury

Stephen Frey, read by Michael McConnohie, BBC Audio, unabridged, eight CDs, 10 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 978-1-60-998059-7

Neither this crime novel’s setting—a rural Wisconsin town consisting of arrogant, wealthy weekenders and impoverished locals—nor its protagonist (the self-involved, brooding Sheriff Paul Summers) gives Michael McConnohie much to work with in terms of accent or character. And he doesn’t get much more help from a contrived plot in which Summers goes out of his way to become a suspect in the apparently ritualistic murder of the daughter of the wealthiest and nastiest of the power elite. Still, McConnohie is a professional: he adds a smooth, engaging vocal polish to the book’s rougher edges and even manages to make the hapless hero sound worthy of our interest. An Atria hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 23). (Sept.)