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Spoken word selections
REVIEWS BY SUKEY HOWARD
By Ann Rule Simon & Schuster Audio, $26 ISBN 0743508246
The plague of plagueAfter years of covering troubled hot spots around the world as a journalist, Geraldine Brooks turned to fiction and to a time in the past that was troubled indeed. Year of Wonders, set in 1666 in a small English mining village caught in the grip of the plague, is indeed a wonder itself, evoking that time and place and capturing the very essence of the villagers' despair and determination. Led by a fervent minister, the community quarantines itself by closing its borders to all who would come or go for 12 months. Anna, a widowed young mother and housemaid, chronicles the effects of isolation and the effects of the disease as it ravages the village, killing many and shaking the faith and judgment of those who survive. She chronicles, too, what she loses and what she finds within herself. Stina Nielsen's pitch-perfect reading turns this finely conceived novel into a very fine audio.
By Geraldine Brooks High-Bridge Audio, $29.95 ISBN 1565114884
Psychological stunnerJonathan Kellerman never misses with his Alex Delaware novels, and John Rubinstein never misses as narrator. This deft, dynamic duo pool their talents again in Flesh and Blood, a top-notch unabridged audio of this well-crafted thriller. As he is wont to do, psychologist Alex Delaware, amply aided by his long-time buddy, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, plunges into a complex case that would baffle lesser, less ardent investigators. Lauren Teague, a troubled teen, had briefly been Alex's patient. Now, years later, her mother begs Alex to help find her missing daughter. When Lauren's brutalized body is found in a Dumpster, Alex feels compelled to search her past for clues. The search leads him into the dark, sleazy corners of the L.A. sex industry, into odd, somewhat suspect psychological experiments and into the murderous machinations of a man intent on making it big in a Hugh Hefner-esque empire.
By Jonathan Kellerman Random House AudioBooks, $39.95 ISBN 037541942X
Private eyeElvis Cole is cool, and Elvis Cole capers are fun. Robert Crais' Lullaby Town, now available on audio, features Elvis at his best, romping through life-threatening situations, cracking wise, cracking heads and cracking the case. The plot is set in motion when Elvis is hired by a Hollywood hotshot, second only to Steven Spielberg. Peter Allen Nelson, director extraordinaire, is used to getting what he wants when he wants it, and what he wants now is to meet the son he abandoned 10 years ago. Elvis takes the case, but what should have been a piece of cake for this practiced PI turns out to be a nasty piece of work. Seems that Nelson's ex-wife, the mother of the sought-after child, has gotten herself mixed up with the mob and getting her out of that mix might cause much damage to life and limb, Elvis' and his inscrutable, tough-as-nails partner Joe Pike's included. Reader James Daniels makes a dandy Elvis and does a fine job with the dialogue.
By Robert Crais Brilliance Audio, $24.95 ISBN 1587885093
Tough turfWeb London, polished point man on the FBI's super-elite Hostage Rescue Team, is super-tough and super-dedicated. Now the hero of David Baldacci's latest bestseller, Last Man Standing, is under scrutiny and suspicion because he's alive, the only man in his unit to make it out of a bloody blow-out in a blind alley. A lot of questions need answering and Web -- bruised, battle-scarred but boldly determined -- is on his way to getting those answers no matter what the cost. As the scene shifts from the drug dealing dens of Washington's inner city to the high-priced hills of Virginia horse country, Web gets closer to that kernel of truth he must have. Web is a guy's guy and this, needless to say, is a guy's testosterone-laced thriller-diller, read at full throttle by Ron McLarty.
By David Baldacci Time Warner Audiobooks, $29.98 ISBN 1586211897
Sukey Howard reports on spoken word audio each month. |
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Ann Rule rules the true crime genre, and she demonstrates her deep-delving prowess once again in Every Breath You Take: A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder, excellently narrated by Blair Brown, with a special introduction by the author. Ann Rule has written 18 bestsellers, but this is her first investigative book prompted by a victim. Ten years before Sheila Belish was horribly murdered in front of her four toddlers, she had been haunted by a premonition that she would meet an untimely and awful end. If anything happened, she asked her sister to get Ann Rule to tell her story. As Rule digs into the past, she paints an alarming portrait of Sheila's first husband, a man whose extraordinary charm masked his sociopathic behavior, Sheila's beleaguered marriage, her hope for a new life with a better man, the dreadful denouement and the ultimate justice that came too late. Fast-paced and more fascinating than fiction.