These five Earphones Award winners include a full-cast, surround-sound noir audio drama; an homage to Agatha Christie’s work; and a new recording of an Elmore Leonard classic, just in time for his centennial celebration in October 2025. Plus, a showcase for 2025 Golden Voice Vikas Adam’s skills, set in ancient times, and a very modern thriller told in reverse.
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
by Peter Swanson | Read by Steven Weber
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 8.75 hrs.]
Steven Weber superbly delivers Peter Swanson’s intriguing mystery. The audiobook’s structure goes backwards from 2023 to 1982—telling a story that’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Weber keeps the tension at its peak as a couple’s lives unfold in reverse. With timing, keen sensibilities, and touches of dramatic irony, Weber makes each important moment in the couple’s lives as real as the moment before. A clever premise does not disappoint, and Weber’s performance makes it even better.
GET SHORTY: Chili Palmer, Book 1
by Elmore Leonard | Read by Joe Mantegna
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 8.75 hrs.]
Joe Mantegna’s calm, resonant voice conveys authority with minimal effort. It’s the ideal voice for Chili Palmer, a loan shark who eschews violence when recovering debts. The audiobook’s plot revolves around the movie script that Chili is pitching, which, coincidentally, is about a loan shark. The result is a recursive script exploring Chili’s life in Hollywood that finds its ending only when he resolves his real-life dilemma with Catlett. An excellent production, with its ideal narrator.
THE BIG FIX: Jack Bergin, Book 2
by John Mankiewicz, Jamie Napoli, Daniel Pyne, Katie Pyne, Aaron Lipstadt | Read by Jon Hamm, Ana de la Reguera, and a Full Cast
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Audible, Inc. | 4.5 hrs.]
Listeners are treated to the rich audio experience of being immersed in the uproar of a 1950s community as major deals unfold to bring the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. Jon Hamm returns to masterfully portray PI Jack Bergin in this second installment of the Audible series. He’s joined by Ana de la Reguera as Lala Portal, Jack’s ex and a classic femme fatale who is in desperate need of help. Listeners will be immersed in a rich audio world, and the result is an entertaining noir layered with history and surround sound.
THE OTHER PEOPLE
by C.B. Everett | Read by Heather Long, Kaffe Keating
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 10.75 hrs.]
Kaffe Keating and Heather Long give masterful performances of Everett’s debut thriller about 10 strangers who have been kidnapped and brought to a mysterious house. Keating’s and Long’s nimble narration of strangers who range from an arrogant army captain to an ornery, lonely woman and a young, single mom with an infant daughter is full-bodied and keeps listeners invested. Listeners will appreciate Everett’s nod to Agatha Christie’s renowned work AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.
JUVENALIA: The Valerius Mysteries, Book 2
by Jennifer Burke | Read by Vikas Adam
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Blackstone Audio | 9.75 hrs.]
Golden Voice Vikas Adam narrates this second book in the Valerius Mysteries series, which is set in ancient Rome and features investigator Aemilius Valerius. As playwrights, poets, and artists prepare for Nero’s birthday celebration, a poet is attacked, and Valerius must solve the case. Adam has an amazing talent for finding different voices for the many male and female characters. Most amazing is his prowess at making modern colloquialisms sound perfectly natural in this ancient setting.
AudioFile is the place to discover more about audiobooks. Every day, its reviews and recommendations tell you which audiobooks are worth your listening time. AudioFile reviews about 50 audiobooks a week, features narrator profiles, and awards exceptional performances with AudioFile’s Earphones Awards. AudioFile publishes in print, newsletters, and a blog, and podcasts daily recommendations on Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine.
