Stephen Hoye's lilting narration, giving emphasis and color to every word, is cloying and affected--like the vocal stylings of a lounge singer. The pointless date/time stamps that start each of the book's many sections would be skippable in reading. On audio they're maddening. The persistent listener becomes inured to Hoye; it helps that he skillfully supplies a wide range of voices for hillbillies, Mafiosi, urban and Southern blacks, women, teenagers, plus the velvety-voiced protagonist, Walker Dett. If some of Hoye's interpretations are clichéd, so is Vachss's dialogue. No narrator could rescue the long, dull sections of this flawed novel about gang wars and political machinations in the southern Midwest.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2005
Duration: 18 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
C.J. Box writes about life in wild Wyoming, short stories of people living a rugged life by choice or by circumstance. David Chandler narrates in a rough-edged whiskey voice that suggests summer heat, bitter winters, and windswept prairies, guiding the listener through 10 adventures of men like Fish and Game Officer Joe Pickett. Chandler brings the listener into this strange world where, more often than not, men have to create their own justice. His performance of the economical stories, some rarely seen, is perfect. The tale of the frozen body of a Native American basketball player turned speed freak, her arm reaching through the ice of a lake in a final jump shot, is one of the most fascinating in the collection.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470392796
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dirk Pitt, intrepid adventurer and master explorer, searches the Sahara for the deadly toxin that is killing marine life world wide. This audio, abridged by Harold Schmidt, lacks most of the adventure, as well as the humor, of Cussler's novels. Narrator Tom Wopat brings an unconventional vocal slant to the ever-cocky Pitt. Using lots of vocal characterization, Wopat brings across the smug brashness of Pitt and handles dialogue briskly. Enhanced by sound effects and small pieces of music, this is an interesting and perplexing mystery.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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