Four single-narrator performances are winning, and a skilled cast multiplies the pleasures of one of our picks.
NOBODY’S FOOL
By Harlan Coben | Read by Vikas Adam
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 11.25 hrs.]
Vikas Adam masterfully draws listeners into this nonstop thriller featuring disgraced former NYPD detective Sam Kierce. Adam expertly voices a wide range of characters, keeping listeners engaged, perfectly matching Harlan Coben’s emotional beats and enhancing every tense moment in this roller-coaster thriller. A gripping, expertly narrated listen.
VERA WONG’S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN): Vera Wong, Book 2
By Jesse Q. Sutanto | Read by Eunice Wong
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 10.5 hrs.]
Vera Wong is back, bringing with her characters from Sutanto’s previous audiobook, along with a host of new suspects and friends. Narrator Eunice Wong turns in another stellar performance, ensuring that this second audiobook featuring the 60-year-old Chinese mother and self-styled super sleuth is just as entertaining and thought-provoking as the first.
THE SUMMER GUESTS: The Martini Club, Book 2
By Tess Gerritsen | Read by Hillary Huber
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Brilliance Audio | 9 hrs.]
Is this audiobook delivered by a full cast? No, just the immensely talented Hillary Huber. In this second installment of The Martini Club series, Huber crafts distinct voices for each male and female character, immersing listeners in the search for a missing teenage girl in the club’s hometown of Purity, Maine. The result is an engrossing audiobook that keeps listeners thoroughly entertained.
THE BUSINESS TRIP
By Jessie Garcia | Read by Andrew Eiden, Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, Tim Campbell
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 9 hrs.]
The superb ensemble of narrators adds great depth to this audiobook, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in the richness of well-defined characters. There is Hillary Huber as Stephanie, who is presumably murdered on a business trip. There is Jennifer Pickens as Jasmine, the expertly portrayed woman who is desperate to have what she believes everyone else has. And there is Tim Campbell, who perfectly portrays the smarmy Trent McCarthy, the presumed murderer of Stephanie and Jasmine. The result is a riveting audiobook that will keep listeners hooked from start to surprising finish.
THE UNDOING OF VIOLET CLAYBOURNE
By Emily Critchley | Read by Nathalie Buscombe
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Recorded Books | 12 hrs.]
This is the ideal audiobook for those who enjoy literate, dark family dramas with a gothic vibe. The crisp, posh English voice of Nathalie Buscombe introduces a quartet of young women whose lives are ruined by a freak shooting accident and the destructive aftermath that follows. The steadying voice of Buscombe leads listeners through the psychological turmoil.
