June 4, 2018 - July 2, 2018
Jill from Aurora, CO
Katherine from Raleigh, NC
Francisca E B
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Narrator Name: James Naughton
Rating the Audio Performance
James Naughton does a superb job voicing the audiobook. His clipped delivery is perfect for Cain’s writing style. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Cain is a master of the roman noir. His writing is every bit as seductive as the temptress at the heart of his story. You just know this is going to end badly but you cannot tear yourself away, you just HAVE to continue.
Rosalie
The Outsider by Stephen King
Narrator Name: Will Patton
Rating the Audio Performance
Too wordy. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Spooky.
Mike
Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Narrator Name: David Stuart
Rating the Audio Performance
David is great with the voices. He manages to bring out several different performances/personalities without going over the top. His narration really enhanced the listening experience for me. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This is several books into the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais so I am very familiar with a couple of the characters. I love that it takes place in Los Angeles, where I live, as I can picture the locations. The characters are interesting and this particular book was creative and unpredictable...and not formulaic at all. I love not being able to predict what is going to happen. I have gotten a little too good at that as of late. Thumbs up!
Karen
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Narrator Name: Erin Spencer, Mark Deakins, and Grace Experience
Rating the Audio Performance
All three readers were very good. The reader of Cassie's part was especially good at pulling the listener into the story. Cassie takes the listener along with her through her thought process when she finds the dead man in her bed and figures out how to deal with the situation. The listener is along with her mentally chiding her when she puts herself in further danger trying to find his killer.
When Cassie confronts the man who has come to kill her, the listener is with her tensely hoping somehow that she will survive. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
An intriguing mystery. Cassandra (Cassie) Bowden is a flight attendant who finds her version of adventure during her time off. She binge drinks and does embarrassing things that she wouldn't do sober as well as hooking up with strange men for one-night stands. On a flight to Dubai, one of the guests is a wealthy young man who invites her to dinner. The next morning she awakes in his hotel room bed and discovers he has been murdered. She has had a blackout and can't remember much of what happened the previous evening. She leaves and tries to remember while she is on her flights back to New York. She, as well as her family and coworkers, is questioned by the FBI. She sees someone familiar and thinks she is being followed.
Karen
The Lost Order by Steve Berry
Narrator Name: Scott Brick
Rating the Audio Performance
Scott Brick does an excellent job reading this novel. He voices the characters as one would expect them to sound. His voice modifies to reflect the events as they occur. He makes the story enticing for the listeners and keeps them listening to see what will happen next. Steve Berry's commentary adds interesting information and points out which events are based on actual events and which are total fiction. He spotlights the Smithsonian and its libraries to give the reader a greater appreciation of this gift from James Smithson. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Buried treasure, murder, adultery, ambition, and a lost order from the Civil War are all factors in this novel. Danny Daniels, former president of the U.S., attends Senator Alex Sherwood's funeral. Sherwood fell in a river and drowned. Was it an accident or murder? Danny Daniels sets out to find out. Along with Cotton Malone he investigates and along the way they learn about the Knights of the Golden Circle and its treasure. Many people are seeking the treasure. Some want it for their own use and others like the Knights of the Golden Circle want to use it to change the direction of the country as they had tried to during the Civil War.
Susan
Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom
Narrator Name: Santino Fontana, Heather Alicia Simms, Madeleine Maby and Kyle Beltran
Rating the Audio Performance
Well done by all of the readers. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The story is historical fiction and is mainly set in 1830 and reverts back and forth to an earlier time.
It held my interest and I recommend it highly.
Sherri
The Associate by John Grisham
Narrator Name: Erik Singer
Rating the Audio Performance
Singer does a good job of subtly changing voice for thoughts versus spoken words of the main character, but I got confused a bit. I had some trouble following scene and chapter changes, but overall a good narration. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Not my favorite Grisham novel. I liked parts of the of the plot line but it was a bit hard to follow for me on audio. This book does not make me interested in becoming a lawyer. I didn't like that several loose ends were not tied up, but that may not matter to other readers. I also would have liked some justice - very few good guys in this one.
Katherine
Educated by Tara Westover
Narrator Name: Julia Whelan
Rating the Audio Performance
Julia Whelan is a fabulous narrator. She also narrated THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This is a biography by Tara Westover. She grew up in a survivalist Mormon household. Her mother treated sickness and injuries with homemade medicines and her father was always preparing for the end of times and was against anything having to do with the government (schools, hospitals). Tara never attended school until she taught herself enough to get into college. This is sad, harrowing and will stay with you for a long time.
Richard N B
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Narrator Name: Lindsay Duncan
Rating the Audio Performance
Lindsay Duncan does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She has good pacing and great skill as a voice artist. I believed her when she was voicing Fiona, and I believed her when she was voicing Adam. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Fiona Maye is a High Court judge who presides over cases in family court, but while she is dealing with this heartbreaking legal case, her personal life also demands attention. The decisions she makes will have consequences for all. I like the way that McEwan explores hidden emotions and the effects of those feelings on the characters’ decisions and actions. I was interested in the subject, but McEwan lost me as the novel progressed. When it ended I felt like I was missing something.
Susan
The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower
Narrator Name: Karen White
Rating the Audio Performance
White does an excellent job narrating the story. She alters her voice slightly when she is quoting a staff member, which works well, and makes it easy to follow what is narrative and attributed to the author and what is attributed to the staff members.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A fantastic, enlightening, detailed looked at life in the White House through the eyes of the butlers, maids, cooks, florists, and others who work for the First Families. Brower has done her research and interviews staff who worked for one presidential family and those who worked for multiple families. We learn about the codes of conduct (confidentiality is a must) that's required of staff, how one becomes part of the staff, and some of the quirks of the people who have lived in the White House. An enlightening look at the most well-known house in the United States.
Aimee
The Defense by Steve Cavanaugh
Narrator Name: Adam Sims
Rating the Audio Performance
The narrator did a great job with inflection, pacing and emotion. His intonations and voices were different for each character, and very well done. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A really good thriller! Fast-paced and a good balance of courtroom and organized crime drama.
Tessa B C
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
Narrator Name: Sile Bermingham
Rating the Audio Performance
Sile Bermingham does a fine job of reading the book. Her pacing and inflections are right on target, and she brings the many characters to life. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This is a story of family, friends, patients and staff whose lives intersect at a heart clinic in Dublin. This was the right book for me at the right time – a gentle, engaging story that focuses on relationships. It gives a snapshot of a year in these people’s lives. This is a sort of sequel to NIGHTS OF RAIN AND STARS, with many of those characters appearing here as well. But can easily be read as a stand-alone.
Lois
Accidental Heroes by Danielle Steel
Narrator Name: Jim Frangione
Rating the Audio Performance
Good narrator, good expression, easy to listen to. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A real page-turner!!!! Well-developed characters in a griping plot!
Shelley
The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
Narrator Name: Lorna Raver
Rating the Audio Performance
Good performance. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Interesting story.
Lori
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Narrator Name: Julia Whelan
Rating the Audio Performance
I loved this audiobook. Julia Whelan’s narration is clear and expressive, with a good range for different characters. The story is compelling and easy to fall into. I highly recommend it. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The story is compelling and easy to escape into. The characters are relatable. I highly recommend it.
Megan
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
Narrator Name: Joanna Gleason
Rating the Audio Performance
Joanna is an excellent narrator. I always worry listening to audio fiction books that the narrator will go overboard on the male vs. female voices but Joanna did it flawlessly. Her voice kept my attention on the story through the whole book. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Another excellent book by Isabel Allende. I loved the characters and the story and all the different time periods covered. I found it especially poignant at this time in U.S. history to listen to the descriptions of the Japanese internment camps some of the characters had to endure.
Katherine
The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
Narrator Name: Dennis Quaid, January LaVoy, Jeremy Davidson, Mozhan Marno and Peter Ganim
Rating the Audio Performance
All were fabulous! I was going to read a print copy but when I found out Dennis Quaid was narrating, I just had to listen to the audio instead. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
What would a president do to save the U.S. from a virus to wipe out all information on the internet and bring the U.S. to its knees? Insider knowledge of the Presidential office by Clinton, exciting action by Patterson! What more do you need?
Diane
A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links between Leadership and Mental Illness by Nassir Ghaemi
Narrator Name: Sean Runnette
Rating the Audio Performance
A convincing voice that persuades. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Intriguing thesis that will really make you think about leadership and insanity in a new way!
Pat
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
Narrator Name: Rebecca Lowman
Rating the Audio Performance
Narrator really convinces you that she is the young Greer starting her life after college. You are totally engaged. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Wolitzer captures the angst that Greer experiences first with her uncaring parents but is then given a direction when she attends a lecture during her first year in college. Really great to read how the early feminists struggled and how the next generation is continuing the cause.
Chris
The Likeness by Tana French
Narrator Name: Heather O’Neill
Rating the Audio Performance
Narrator has a pleasing voice that seems to match how I would imagine the main character would sound. The pacing is good and it kept my interest. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Love how Tana French plots her story and how the characters are developed.
Francisca E B
Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams
Narrator Name: Johanna Parker
Rating the Audio Performance
Johanna Parker does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She has a lot of characters to handle, and she manages to give them unique voices. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A fun cozy mystery with a great premise. Storyton Hall is a spa retreat that specializes in weekend getaways for book lovers. In this first installment, it’s Halloween and a Murder and Mayhem Mystery weekend includes costume parties and scavenger hunts. But no one expects to find a murder victim! The plot gets a little ridiculous, but I loved all the literary references.
Carolyn
Down River by John Hart
Narrator Name: Scott Sowers
Rating the Audio Performance
Scott was very easy to listen to. I think he needed to put a bit more inflection in his voice in places. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This was a very good story and kept you guessing until the end. I enjoyed it very much.
Debbi
The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George
Narrator Name: Simon Vance
Rating the Audio Performance
Mr. Vance makes every character come alive, and you will have no trouble knowing who is speaking at any time. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I love Elizabeth George's Lynley Series. Best of all, I lover Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. She is a smart woman, a great detective, but definitely not a rule follower and she doesn't suffer fools or idiots quietly! Of course, although these traits make her a great character, they do not endear her to her supervisors and even when she has done nothing wrong she is always in hot water with someone. This story has a lot of twists and turns and a secondary storyline, which certainly was not completed by the end of the book -- so I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next book in the Lynley series.
Nora
The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters
Narrator Name: Barbara Rosenblatt
Rating the Audio Performance
Enjoy listening to Barbara Rosenblatt. I like the different tones she uses for different characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The twists and turns of the plot kept me interested to the end. She had me believing one person was the villain when actually it was another!
Sue
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
Narrator Name: James Comey
Rating the Audio Performance
Very clearly narrated, which enhanced the message he was delivering. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Book written following Comey's abrupt and unexplained firing by President Trump. Comey shares some of the incidents in his early childhood which led him to a career in law and law enforcement, and he clearly discusses his professional and personal lives. His ten-year appointment as the Director of the FBI by Barack Obama seemed the perfect capstone to a successful career. Sadly, his philosophy of leadership was not respected by President Trump who simply told lies about the necessity of Comey's discharge just 5 months after Trump was inaugurated. Comey's commitment to correct procedure and fairness in relationships doomed his continuation under Trump.
Kimiko
The Lost Light by Michael Connelly
Narrator Name: Len Cariou
Rating the Audio Performance
I love this actor and he does wonderful changes in his voice to show us the different characters. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Another great Harry Bosch police procedural!
Phyllis
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
Narrator Name: Jenna Lamia
Rating the Audio Performance
Very well narrated! Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I had resisted reading this book, but am so glad I listened to it! I really did not know about the life and times of this couple in our literary history. I learned that Zelda had bipolar which contributed to her many activities beside writing. She was an accomplished ballerina and artist. She was born in Montgomery, Alabama and was a real Southern Belle until she met and married F. Scott Fitzgerald and though they loved each other, they were not good for each other because they drank too much and lived a reckless lifestyle, moving many times with their daughter, Scottie, here in USA and France. The author's writing style made this excellent historical fiction.
Melanie
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Narrator Name: Francois Chau
Rating the Audio Performance
Authentic. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Very hard book to get through because of the subject matter but so very well written. A necessary read.
Vicki
The House of Unexpected Sisters by Alexander McCall Smith
Narrator Name: Lisette Lecat
Rating the Audio Performance
Easy listening - good dialect. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Typical Smith story.
Tessa B C
Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
Narrator Name: Davina Porter
Rating the Audio Performance
Davina Porter is spot-on perfect performing this audiobook series. She has a gift for voices and accents and is easily able to differentiate the many characters. My only quibble is her voice for Brianna; yes, she was raised by two Brits, but she was born and raised in the USA and should NOT have a British accent. She should sound American. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Book #4 in the bestselling Outlander series has Jamie and Claire making their home in the mountains of North Carolina. I just love this series. Gabaldon writes compelling stories with characters I care about. Even the ones I hate (Brianna) keep me interested and engaged, and the action is non-stop.
Dottie
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Narrator Name: Sean Crisden and Eisa Davis
Rating the Audio Performance
Accents on the characters were wonderful. Good clarity in the voices of each character. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A compelling story about love, marriage, family, injustice, hope and resolution. The story is told through the eyes of the three main characters, alternating chapters from each perspective, Roy Jr., Celestial and Andre. The story is all too real, especially considering the racial inequality we hear about on almost a daily basis. However, the story is more than just that. It is also about family, commitment, being a better person, making the best of every situation and giving people what they need.
Kay
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Narrator Name: Jennifer Lim
Rating the Audio Performance
I was very impressed with the subtle shift in inflection and tone to represent the different characters; it was very obvious who was speaking without being intrusive. Lim also was able to do excellent job of recreating teenage speech patterns. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I was completely caught up in this story and all the characters. I felt invested in everyone -- even the ones I didn't like as much.
Ricki
Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman
Narrator Name: Saskia Maarleveld
Rating the Audio Performance
Narration fit the book well. Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Fun in some parts, pointless in others - but then, so is real life. 
