2013 Audiobook Favorites

Today's list of favorites is audiobooks. As I mentioned yesterday, I listened to fewer audiobooks this past year. Now that I'm not driving to work, my audiobook time has gone down a bit. So I'm going to limit my list a bit this year. As with my previous lists, these come from audios I listened to this year, they may not have been published this year. Given that, here are my seven favorite audiobooks of 2013:

Reconstructing Amelia (written by Kimberly McCreight; narrated by Khristine Hvam) Hvam sent chills up my spine as she sent me back to the brutal world of high school. The fact that I felt my heart being ripped apart by the evil children can do to one another speaks volumes for the performance Hvam put forth on this production. Harper Audio

Point and Shoot (written by Duane Swierczynski; narrated by Pete Larkin) This is the final book and audio in Swierczynski's trilogy and all three have been exceptional listening experiences. They are fun stories and Larkin simply has fun narrating them. His humor and energy mesh with Swierczynski's style and the listener reaps the rewards. Hachette Audio/AudioGo

Gun Machine (written by Warren Ellis; narrated by Reg E. Cathey) Cathey had a great book to work with here, but he wove his interpretation into the very fibers of the story. I was especially impressed with his range of character. Gritty, hardboiled and fun! Hachette Audio


Dare Me (written by Megan Abbott; narrated by Khristine Hvam) I haven't had an opportunity to review this one as I listened to it late this year, but Hvam is quite masterful with the high school world as she took the narration lead on this one as well but gave it its own unique sound. I didn't make the connection that she had narrated Reconstructing Amelia until looking back later. She nails the attitude, the energy and most especially the perspective of the novel. Hachette/AudioGo

The October List (written by Jeffery Deaver; narrated by January LaVoy) If my list would have been longer than 7, the eighth audio would have been Killer Instinct. It introduced me to January LaVoy and she knocked my socks off, but I had to choose The October List first because she was as important in the surprise of the plot twist for me as the writing itself.  She knew and understood the story and played it perfectly. Hachette Audio

The Goldfinch (written by Donna Tartt; narrated by David Pittu) I'm still finishing this one up, but have been transfixed for more than 20 hours already (the full audio is over 30) and have run the gamut of emotions. Pittu's easy transitions between the many dialects is stellar and I'm especially enamored by his portrayal of females. What a great listening experience this has been. Hachette Audio

The Graveyard Book (written and narrated by Neil Gaiman) Can I just say, "wow! This one blew me away!"? Is that sufficient? I felt like I was there in the graveyard with Bod. And Gaiman's sound made me feel safe there. I'm always skeptical of an author performing his/her own audiobooks, but this one was flat out amazing. So thankful I finally listened to it. Harper Audio


And that does it for the favorite audiobooks of 2013! How about you? What were your favorites?

Gun Machine - Warren Ellis

First line: "On playing back the 911 recording, it'd seem that Mrs. Stegman was more concerned that the man outside her apartment door was naked than that he had a big shotgun."

Detective John Tallow is at a point in his career where he's simply going through the motions. But when his partner is killed by a crazy shotgun-wielding naked man in an apartment building, Tallow discovers a residence that is filled with guns. All kinds of guns. And when the forensics crew starts testing and examining the guns they discover a strange and unwelcome fact. Every single gun is tied to an unsolved crime in New York. Upon further investigation they discover each of those guns also has historical significance.

Tallow, supposed to be out on mental health leave due to his partner's death, is summoned back in and saddled with all of the unsolved murders that have just been unearthed due to his discovery in the apartment building. Meanwhile, the owner of the apartment wants his guns back and his identity to remain hidden. The only way to accomplish that is to take out John Tallow. And thus begins a deadly game of cat and mouse...

The Hachette Audio unabridged version of Gun Machine is narrated by Reg E. Cathey and I don't think they could have picked a better narrator for this gritty, hard boiled police procedural. Cathey's tone and pacing mimics Tallow's worn out, beat up personality. At the same time Cathey counters that with Tallow's peculiar partners from the CSU: Scarly, a self-proclaimed "autistic", and Bat, a neurotic techno-geek. Ellis' well crafted humor emanates from the interactions between these three, and Cathey alternates seamlessly as he reads these scenes.

The plot of Gun Machine is as meticulously assembled as the guns that line the walls of the infamous apartment. Ellis maintains a high level of suspense and mystery throughout, while Cathey maintains his tone in direct proportion to the characters' knowledge, not the reader's knowledge. In other words, he doesn't grow overly dramatic unless it is Scarly having a melt down. This aides the reader in appreciating all the significant detail of the narration instead of overly anticipating the novel's climax. MORE than half the fun of this novel is the journey and hearing it end is a heart-breaking disappointment.

Ellis has populated Gun Machine with distinctively rich characters, characters I hope we will see again. Cathey extends the uniqueness of each character through his dynamic aural representations.

I experience stories through all varieties of delivery and Gun Machine is a superb crime novel, but I'm especially glad I listened to Gun Machine. This is a top-notch audiobook and a sensational listening experience.

Gun Machine is available in unabridged audio from Hatchette Audio and in hardcover print (ISBN: 9780316187404) from Mulholland Books.