In this sparkling production, set just before the outbreak of WWI, narrator Gildart Jackson employs his husky baritone to capture the many facets of Jack McColl. He supplies confidence to the Scotsman’s persona as a luxury car salesman and provides caginess to Jack’s alter ego as a novice agent in Britain's fledgling intelligence service. Jackson’s voice clearly reflects the conflict McColl feels when his spying clashes with his budding relationship with Caitlin Hanley, an Irish-American journalist. While Jackson delivers a strong portrait of McColl, his depiction of Caitlin, as well as those of other secondary characters, isn’t as distinctive. However, portraying McColl, Jackson takes listeners around the globe to China, San Francisco, New York, London, and Dublin, weaving a measured accounting of how one man fights the good fight, despite obstacles and misgivings.
Pub Date: May 13, 2014
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781483013596
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ayla, one of the "others," is adopted by a clan of Neanderthal cave people. She struggles to conform to their ways, but her advanced human traits overwhelm and threaten their primitive culture in this initial installment of an immensely popular series. Although the story might benefit from abridgment, Rowena Cooper easily carries out the formidable task of enlivening the mostly silent and stereotypical characters with consistent, diverse personalities and human dimension. Through skillful phrasing and inflection, she maintains the reader's interest and suspense, especially with Ayla and her plight, throughout this rambling and imaginative story.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This lyrical, sensual novel of woman's lot in Manchu, China, is as well researched as it is well written. Authentic in tone, it's nonetheless written for Westerners by a Western expert on China. Moreover, Susan Clark performs the demanding text superbly, with only occasional signs of fatigue. For the most part she not only sustains the quaint diction and Asian atmosphere, but also, creates whole worlds with her voice. She acts the book, rather than reads it, and, in so doing, turns a pretty trifle into a stupendous beauty.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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