Catching Up on Audiobooks

I have been terrible about getting my audiobook reviews on the blog this year. I am listening to them regularly and reviewing for AudioFile Magazine, but neglecting to get them up on the blog once they've appeared in the magazine. Part of this is because my intention was always to rewrite them with a bit more about the content of the book. My reviews for AudioFile focus on the recording. Time just hasn't allowed that, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you from this year with AudioFile's permission. So, let's take a look:

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

Deviating from her bestselling non-fiction, Judith Flanders tries her hand at mystery in this debut novel. Susan Duerden gives voice to Flanders' narrating protagonist, publishing editor Samantha Clair. With consistency and emotion she creates a high level of authenticity in the reactions of a woman unaccustomed to big money book sales, let alone murder and mayhem. Duerden maintains a swift pace without hurrying and her dialects are distinct as Sam travels by foot, train and plane throughout Europe searching for clues about her missing author, Kit Lowell. Edgier than a traditional cozy, Duerden offers a light tone, while still delivering the occasional profanity with spunk. The only disappointment in this enjoyable recording is a flat delivery of the novel's sharp humor.

Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey

Hold on to your sun screen and shades, Florida's own Serge A. Storms is back and so is his versatile narrator, Oliver Wyman. A cast recording isn't necessary with Wyman at the helm. The wrinkles and white hair on a crew of plucky senior women ride the waves of Wyman's geriatric sound as assuredly and confidently as Mahoney's smooth gumshoe jive rolls off his tongue. Whether it's Coleman's dawdling drugged diction or Serge's speeding caffeinated chatter, Wyman is seamless in his delivery, highlighting subtle nuances in each character. Dorsey's series is famous for the wacky humor and Wyman delivers it with verve, leaving listeners chuckling heartily throughout. Veteran listeners or newbies are sure to enjoy this addition to the Serge A. Storms oeuvre.

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty

Gerard Doyle returns to Adrian McKinty's Detective Sean Duffy series to give a stunning performance in his reading of the fourth installment, GUN STREET GIRL. The plot, involving a suspicious murder-suicide possibly connected to arms dealers, is packed with subtle nuances and passions that underlie a tired, beat down, highly complex RUC inspector. Simultaneously Duffy's protégé, Alexander Lawson, possess the unrestrained wonder and eagerness of an optimistic youth. Doyle narrates these mirroring roles with an elegant grace that makes listeners forget he's even there. From the subtle changes in dialect to McKinty's distinct writing cadence--and most especially the dark humor--Doyle hones in on and perfectly enacts all the minute details making this police procedural engaging and a joy to listen to.

Night Life by David C. Taylor

Keith Szarabajka ferries his audience back into David C. Taylor's McCarthy-era New York City with such authenticity they may start seeing their surroundings in black and white. Taylor's richly atmospheric debut crime novel, NIGHT LIFE, is only enhanced by Szarabajka's vast range of meticulous dialects, reflecting the diversity of the period. Szarabajka also subtly teases out the harsh ugliness of a nation in fear and leaders who profit from it. He delivers Taylor's stellar dialogue with a gritty grace befitting hardened cops and dirty politicians while never missing a beat of the deadpan humor that serves as the icing on this delectable performance. A brilliant pairing of narrator and story makes NIGHT LIFE a superb audiobook.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman's stunning tribute to life, death and fairy tales chronicles the story of Elsa, a seven-year-old tasked with delivering apology letters for her grandmother after her death. Joan Walker reads this delightful novel with a perfect balance of reverence and playfulness, bringing out Backman's wonderfully authentic child's-eye perspective as well as his heart-warming humor. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry is populated with a rainbow of eccentric characters, and Walker provides each a distinct persona. Elsa's dialogue is, unfortunately, the most disappointing. Often Walker sounds as though she is over-reaching for a childish high-pitch instead of expressing Elsa's character. This small glitch aside, the audiobook is utterly enchanting and a must for anyone who appreciates story.

The Dog Master by W. Bruce Cameron

David Colacci reveres the wolf in his narration of W. Bruce Cameron's The Dog Master. Guiding listeners through three time periods, multiple early tribes of humans and the wolf packs, he keeps the momentum of the plot swift, the characters distinct and the atmosphere rich. The tensions, anxieties and frustrations of both these early people and their canine counterparts are palpable in Colacci's boundless reading of a tale about the first dog. Without resorting to exaggerated dramatic effects, he builds an authentic tone of constant danger in an uncertain world of hunter and prey while also establishing passionate relationships--human to human and human to wolf. Exciting, engaging and enjoyable, The Dog Master should have a wide appeal for many audiobook listeners.

These have all been audios--and books--I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's a list of a few that I probably wouldn't recommend to anyone, but if you want to check out my reviews, click on the links to the Audiofile site:

The Empire of Night (Robert Olen Butler)
The Swimminer (Peter Ganim)
Ruins of War (John A. Connell)
Second Life (S.J. Watson)
Eeny Meeny (M.J. Arlidge)
After the Storm (Linda Castillo)
City on Fire (Garth Risk Hallberg)

If you haven't checked out the AudioFile site, I encourage you to do so. Sign up for their newsletters and subscribe to the magazine if you're an audiobook lover like I am. I've discovered great audiobooks through them and I hope these that I've shared here have been of interest to you. Thanks and happy reading/listening!

Quote of the Week

Hi friends! I hope you're having a fantastic week so far. If it seems like posts have been kind of willy-nilly around here, I apologize. The reason for that is two professional development classes I'm taking right now. I've had to put some things on hold a bit in order to devote adequate time to them, so please bear with me a bit longer as I get through them. Then I hope to return to some semblance of order. However, I still think about stuff for the blog regularly and one of those things is a new weekly post I'm going to commit to...

"Quote of the Week."

Don't you just love those great snippets from your reading that make you laugh, stop and reread, catch your breath? That's what I want to highlight here. So today I'm going to kick it off with a quote from an audiobook I was listening to recently that just made me laugh out loud in the car. I'm sure if anyone was watching me they wondered what was wrong with me...but laughing to myself is not the craziest reason anyone's ever wondered that. So here you go:

"Except whenever something goes to hell everywhere else in the country, Florida puts it on roller skates with rocket thrusters."
    —from Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey

I'm planning to post the weekly quotes on Wednesday, so check back next week for more bookish quote fun. And if you've got a great quote to share this week, please leave it in the comments for us all to enjoy.

Happy Reading!

ELECTRIC BARRACUDA - Tim Dorsey

First lines: "Orlando. Tourism on steroids."

Serge Storms is constructing a "fugitive vacation" for tourists in Florida because Florida is where all the criminals go to hide out. It's only fitting, and Serge believes tourists want to experience the criminal side of life, not the same old boring tourist traps. So as Serge leads the police on a wild goose chase throughout the state, he blogs about how to enjoy Florida the way a fugitive would: fugitive geography, fugitive parenting, hiding in plain sight, etc. While Serge is evading law enforcement and blogging about it, he is also leaving behind a trail of creative murders. How many corpses will Serge leave behind before the fuzz finally catch up with him?

When I started ELECTRIC BARRACUDA I was a little concerned. It seemed as though it was going to be slapstick comedy with no real purpose. Me and "funny for the sake of funny" don't really mesh well. But Dorsey doesn't do "funny for the sake of funny." ELECTRIC BARRACUDA is rife with social commentary, adding depth and dimension to the plot. He takes a stab at the banking industry, poaching and the environment, tourism, even child rearing. At times Dorsey's satire is so painfully true, all you can do is laugh to keep from crying at the reality:

"Because [suicide hotline] is a job that requires a high level of education and compassion for your fellow man," said Serge. "It's like teachers. They know they're decent folk who are going to do it anyway. And when people are that virtuous, there's only one thing to do under our system: shit on 'em each paycheck."

ELECTRIC BARRACUDA is populated by a cast of unusually colorful characters. Serge's sidekick is an alcoholic drug addict who's probably on his last few brain cells. Serge's eccentricity meshes well with Coleman's dimness. Somehow they keep each other on track. The team of law enforcement agents pursuing Serge are equally idiosyncratic, enhancing the bizarreness of the dance these two teams do across the state.

The plot is quirky and at times - o.k., most of the time - over the top, but it's also adroitly crafted to illustrate the ludicrousness that we have come to accept as normal and copacetic. Maybe those we consider normal need to see the view through the eyes of those we consider aberrant to truly understand the level of our waywardness.

ELECTRIC BARRACUDA is available in hardcover from WILLIAM MORROW (ISBN: 978-0-06-187689-9) and in audiobook from Harper Audio (ISBN:  978-0-06-206372-4). This blog post is part of the ELECTRIC BARRACUDA blog tour with TLC Book Tours. Be sure to check the site for a video from Tim Dorsey as well as additional reviews.