Narrator Barrie Kreinik artfully portrays colorful people--locals and immigrants--who call New York City home in the nineteenth century. Rose Gallagher is housemaid to wealthy British Pinkerton detective Thomas Wiltshire, whose disappearance deeply concerns her. Listeners will be pleased to meet lovely Chinese Mei and Gallagher's mam (mother), who talks to the dead. Kreinik's most appealing creation is Wiltshire's cook, Clara Best, who shares witty and wise observations as she reluctantly helps Rose search for their employer. Glorious and ghastly descriptions of the city's living conditions and history are revealed as they comb the metropolis. Portals and ghosts, chillingly depicted by Kreinik, reveal criminal activity and the city's hideous underbelly. Fascinating historical notes presented by author Lindsey conclude a rousing listen.
Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781250303820
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Marsters' weary delivery perfectly captures Harry Dresden's fractured psyche as he navigates a year of mandatory mourning and political maneuvering in Chicago. Marsters doesn't just read; he inhabits Harry's exhaustion, using deliberate pacing and a somber tonal palette that underscores the protagonist's post-traumatic stress. Marsters' gift for distinct vocal characterizations remains sharp, effortlessly pivoting from the ethereal, detached elegance of the Sidhe to the grounded warmth of Harry's remaining allies. By leaning into the book's quieter, more introspective moments, Marsters elevates this urban fantasy's emotional stakes, transforming a year of Dresden's life into a poignant study of grief. It's an immersive performance that makes the wizard's vulnerability feel hauntingly real. Marsters' soulful performance makes this a compelling entry in the Harry Dresden series.
Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
Duration: 17 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217176021
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Samuel Barnett delivers a fresh interpretation of the St. George and the Dragon legend. George, whom Barnett portrays in a snide, harried tone that makes him bitingly funny, becomes increasingly hysterical as his contemporary London life falls apart. After he inexplicably time travels to the medieval era, his neuroses are subsumed into the immediacy of survival and the sweetness of romance. But things change when he's saddled with a dangerous quest. Barnett's voice for George's first-person narration, while consistent, subtly transforms to reflect the character's growth. Well-rendered secondary characters range from a laddish 21st-century city worker to a spoiled medieval prince. Barnett expertly renders a story that is part sci-fi, part gay romance, and part historical fiction.
Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063424715
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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