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currently recording:

THE GIRL WHO KICKED
THE HORNET'S NEST
bySteig Larsson
for Random House Audio
Next up:
UNDER HEAVEN
by Guy Gavriel Kay
for Penguin Audio

Below are descriptions of a few
recently completed recordings:

(click title to expand listing)

by Steig Larsson

It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism, and an unexpected connection between themselves.

Contagiously exciting, it’s about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.

Clapton-unabridged

for Books on Tape
16+ hours
also available at www.audible.com

by Kate Summerscale

In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.

At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.
Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable—that someone within the family was responsible for the murder of young Saville Kent. Without sufficient evidence or a confession, though, his case was circumstantial and he returned to London a broken man. Though he would be vindicated five years later, the real legacy of Jonathan Whicher lives on in fiction: the tough, quirky, knowing, and all-seeing detective that we know and love today: from the cryptic Sergeant Cuff in Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone to Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a provocative work of nonfiction that reads like a Victorian thriller, and in it author Kate Summerscale has fashioned a brilliant, multilayered narrative that is as cleverly constructed as it is beautifully written.

A Spy by Nature

for Highbridge Audio
10 1/2 hours

by Peter May

Enzo MacLeod, a Scot teaching in southwest France, has confidently bet that he can crack seven notorious murders described in a book on cold cases. He has, in fact, solved the first two crimes, but the third is far from his mind right now. He’s just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and he’s become the victim of someone who seems intent on destroying his credit and his relationships—and getting him arrested for murder.

This is one instance where his Scottish stubbornness might pay off. Having established a safe house to protect his loved ones, Enzo sets to work. Are his personal woes somehow connected to the digging he’s done into the brutal murder of a rent boy in a Paris apartment sixteen years ago? What further remnants of evidence will he find? And can he stay alive long enough to catch the long-hidden killer?

Reagan and Thatcher

for Blackstone Audio
8 1/2 hours

by Jaqueline Carey

This is the third book in the second trilogy of books that comprise the Kushiel series. This sixth book has only just been published and this is the first audio book from the series - the other five will appear shortly...

Having learned a lesson about thwarting the will of the gods, Imriel and Sidonie publicly confess their affair, only to see the country boil over in turmoil. Younger generations, infatuated by their heart-twisting, star-crossed romance, defend the couple. Many others cannot forget the betrayals of Imriel's mother, Melisande, who plunged their country into a bloody war that cost the lives of their fathers, brothers, and sons.

To quell the unrest, Ysandre, the queen, sets her decree. She will not divide the lovers, yet neither will she acknowledge them. If they marry, Sidonie will be disinherited, losing her claim on the throne.

There's only one way they can truly be together. Imriel must perform an act of faith: search the world for his infamous mother and bring her back to Terre d'Ange to be executed for treason.

Facing a terrible choice, Imriel and Sidonie prepare ruefully for another long separation. But when a dark foreign force casts a shadow over Terre d'Ange and all the surrounding countries, their world is turned upside down, alliances of the unlikeliest kind are made, and Imriel and Sidonie learn that the god Elua always puts hearts together apurpose.

The Chameleon's Shadow

for Tantor Media
26 Hours

by Alan S. Cowell

In a page-turning narrative that reads like a thriller, an award-winning journalist exposes the troubling truth behind the world’s first act of nuclear terrorism.

On November 1, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko sipped tea in London’s Millennium Hotel. Hours later the Russian émigré and former intelligence officer, who was sharply critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin, fell ill and within days was rushed to the hospital. Fatally poisoned by a rare radioactive isotope slipped into his drink, Litvinenko issued a dramatic deathbed statement accusing Putin himself of engineering his murder. Alan S. Cowell, then London Bureau Chief of the New York Times, who covered the story from its inception, has written the definitive story of this assassination and of the profound international implications of this first act of nuclear terrorism.

With a colorful cast that includes the tycoons, spies, and killers who surrounded Litvinenko in the roller-coaster Russia of the 1990s, as well as the émigrés who flocked to London in such numbers that the British capital earned the sobriquet “Londongrad,” this book lays out the events that allowed an accused killer to escape prosecution in a delicate diplomatic minuet that helped save face for the authorities in London and Moscow.

A masterful work of investigative reporting, The Terminal Spy offers unprecedented insight into one of the most chilling true stories of our time.

The Painter of Battles

for Books on Tape
14+ Hours
also available at www.audible.com

by Peter David

If you enjoy the story of Peter Pan, you'll like this modern reshaping of the tale - something here for adults as well as children...

Paul Dear has grown up listening to his father’s tall tales of adventure, which his mother infuses with common sense. But not even his parents know that Paul spends his days chatting with pixies and other magical creatures that dwell unseen among the living. And, at night in his room, a boy beckons to Paul from the mirror to come adventuring.

When sudden tragedy strikes his family, Paul knows he must seek the great hero of his time: the Boy of Legend. Launched into the starry skies, Paul embarks on a journey to the magical Anyplace where he will run with Indian warriors, cross swords with pirates, befriend a magnificent tiger, and soar beside the ageless boy who reigns in the world of imagination.

Dune Messiah

for Blackstone Audio
8 1/2 Hours
also available at www.audible.com

Tantor Audio has been enlaging upon their library of classic literature and I've had the pleasure of recently recording such wonderful books as:

Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
A Tale of Two Cities
Frankenstein

Reviews

By the way - Richard Matthews is Robert Whitfield is Simon Vance
(just in case you were confused)

 

AN UNPARDONABLE CRIME Andrew Taylor
Read by Simon Vance

Simon Vance does a lovely job of making the complex sentences and bygone words of the period writing style easy to listen to. Both his English and his American characters sound right, which is an impressive feat. And the large cast, from English boys to East End women to a middle-aged black Canadian servant, are believable.

OBSESSION Katherine Sutcliffe
Read by Richard Matthews

As Richard Matthews drags us through the muck of insanity, self-pity, alcoholism, martyrdom, self-discovery, and treachery, he imbues the diverse characters with every nuance of shallow realism called for in the text. Where the plot teeters on the brink of the ridiculous, Matthews snatches it back to the safety of entertaining, if never believable, romance.

PHINEAS FINN Anthony Trollope
Read by Robert Whitfield

Whitfield also finds a rewarding, energetic pace for this 1869 tale of the political, moral, and romantic ups and downs of an Irishman in the British Parliament. The polished excitement that animates Whitfield's reading comes across richly and compels the listener's attention.

THE LAMENTS George Hagen
Read by Richard Matthews

The beauty of this audiobook lies in the author's creativity and in the narrator's attention to detail--Hagen's family is an oddly universal one, in spite of all their eccentricities, and Richard Matthews masterfully brings each character to life, right down to the children's accent shifts as they move from one country to the next.

THE PRINCES OF IRELAND : The Dublin Saga Edward Rutherford
Read by Richard Matthews

Some listeners may find this book less involving than his others, but narrator Richard Matthews does his best--which is very good--to keep us interested. He blends an attentive, well-paced narration in his attractive English baritone with a range of Irish accents that delineate character and class--everything from Druid priests to warrior queens to twentieth-century farmers experiencing potato famine. Matthews is particularly skilled at heightening the narrative drive of the story with an intense, dramatic reading that is never overdone. He makes this book well worth hearing, despite its daunting length.

TELLER OF TALES : The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle Daniel Stashtower
Read by Richard Matthews

Richard Matthews's smooth British narration does justice to the man, his times, and particularly his acquaintances, sliding as he does into mild accents, such as Scottish or Irish, as the character on hand requires.

A HISTORY OF HEAVEN Jeffrey Burton Russell
Read by Simon Vance

The ultimate "lofty" topic is brought within grasp in this beautiful reading by British-born actor Simon Vance. . . . . . Vance, whose audio repertoire includes works by Eric Ambler, P. G. Wodehouse and a biography of Oscar Wilde, articulates Russell's scholarly words with such crisp elegance that the subject is made accessible, and listening is a little slice of heaven.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE HAPSBURG TIARA Alan Vanneman
Read by Simon Vance

Vance's narrative technique, best described as "excess within control," is most evident in scenes of Dr. Watson's torrid affair with a conniving countess. The explicit language sounds almost incongruous with his proper tone. Every character receives enough differentiation to remain identifiable without compromising the subtlety of Vance's delivery.

CROME YELLOW Aldous Huxley
Read by Robert Whitfield

Robert Whitfield's unabridged reading of Huxley's first novel is a triumph of one man's vocal capacities. Crome Yellow introduces many ideas Huxley would explore in fuller and more exact detail later, but Whitfield's vocal acrobatics in portraying the cast of characters assembled at an English country estate for a summer vacation in the 1920's makes for dazzling aural entertainment. Otherwise fatuous goings-on become intriguing shenanigans, and the characters' psychological portraits are rendered accurately through the unique voices Whitfield assigns them. With each change of the five cassettes, the listener is more captivated.

ANTIC HAY Aldous Huxley
Read by Robert Whitfield

Whitfield's voice is fun to listen to, and he uses that playfulness to complement Huxley's biting, satiric prose. He reads marvelously, pacing the story well and using his firm, deep voice to capture the irony and hypocrisy within the book. This is not one of Huxley's better-known novels, but Whitfield makes it notable.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENVENUTO CELLINI Benvenuto Cellini
Read by Robert Whitfield

Whitfield brings Cellini's autobiography to life, fluently rolling Italian and English words off his tongue and capturing the flavor of the tale. Cellini tells of his adventures, his encounters with DaVinci and Michelangelo, the Medicis and other famous people of his era. The minute details recounted by Cellini are gracefully read by Whitfield, who breathes life into this fascinating autobiography.

BARNABY RUDGE Charles Dickens
Read by Robert Whitfield

And reader Robert Whitfield is an absolute joy, making this long and complex work accessible and entertaining. Whitfield distinguishes with charm and consistency among the huge cast of characters--emphasis on that last word. . . . . . Clearly Whitfield enjoys reading this novel as much as we enjoy listening to it

CASANOVA John Masters
Read by Robert Whitfield

Through subtle changes in tempo and mood, Whitfield accurately captures both the spirit of Casanova and the integrity of the author

CASINO ROYALE Ian Fleming
Read by Robert Whitfield

Britisher Robert Whitfield takes a suitably urbane approach, sounding as if he is attired in white tails and sipping a very dry martini between takes.

DR. NO Ian Fleming
Read by Robert Whitfield

Robert Whitfield's polished voice is an enchanting accompaniment to Fleming's exotic settings and stories. His English accent is as smooth as a dry martini--shaken not stirred--and he slips into other accents (West Indian and African American in LIVE & LET DIE, German in GOLDFINGER, and Chinese in DR. NO) as easily as the fictional 007 slips out of a dangerous situation and into the bed of a beautiful woman.

LONDON MATCH Len Deighton
Read by Robert Whitfield

Robert Whitfield's reading of LONDON MATCH will have the listener wishing that the great espionage game had gone on forever. Whitfield's narrative voice is easy, his voices true and unvarying. British Whitfield handles Deighton's multinational cast effortlessly--even when they all appear together in a scene

THE CHRISTMAS STORIES Charles Dickens
Read by Robert Whitfield

Robert Whitfield's narration allows listeners to recognize how much Dickens wrote for the ear. Whitfield reads these stories like he is telling them beside a winter fire. His voice rises and falls with Dickens's rhythms, and it's easy to imagine Dickens acting out the eccentric and vivid characters that fill every story.

DIE ANOTHER DAY Raymond Benson
Read by Robert Whitfield

Who better than Robert Whitfield to breathe new life into 007? Whitfield exhibits an exacting British accent; an ability to fluently shift between a myriad of characters, all within a breath; and a gift for painting pictures with words. Whitfield's talent adds another dimension to the consummate secret agent--Bond, James Bond.

THE ENDLESS KNOT : Song of Albion Book 3 Stephen R. Lawhead
Read by Robert Whitfield

Making very strange place and character names sound commonplace must have been quite challenging, but Robert Whitfield has completely mastered them. Lawhead's character, an Oxford student, becomes Llew Silver Hand, High King of Albion, a Celtic other world. With the help of his queen, Goewyn, he mends the fabric between the modern world and Albion. Whitfield pours life and emotion into the characters and moves listeners "out of this world." He portrays high action and romance with equal finesse. This work is a successful combination of science fiction, fantasy, and romance, with an outstanding narrator.

THE FACE OF BATTLE John Keegan
Read by Robert Whitfield

Robert Whitfield's reading matches the grace, intelligence, and pathos of Keegan's prose. Whitfield's voice is deep and serious, but not ponderous. He sounds like an English academic without sounding pedantic. Reading this work is no easy task. Keegan's prose is filled with lengthy sentences and dotted with foreign words and phrases, but Whitfield offers a flawless reading.

RIDE WITH ME Thomas B. Costain
Read by Richard Matthews

Richard Matthews's narration is punctuated by versatile accents, ranging from refined French and English to Cockney and Indian patois, and never misses a beat or nuance. As Frances Ellery and Robert Wilson charge into battle, Matthews picks up his pacing and follows along, keeping the listener enthralled.

CASTLES OF STEEL : Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea Robert K. Massie
Read by Richard Matthews

The writing is lucid, and the narration, by Brit Richard Matthews, is precise and compelling.

INTELLIGENCE IN WAR : Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda John Keegan
Read by Richard Matthews

Richard Matthews narrates these skillfully; his flowing British accent perfectly complements Keegan's rich prose. Together, writer and reader engage the listener with the book's argument.

 

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