As a cop, Codella worked the toughest beat in New York City, a part of lower Manhattan called Alphabet City. He had grown up close by in Brooklyn, where cops and Mafia heads lived on the same block, and knew the streets like a native. He soon found that speaking the language of prostitutes and dope-dealers gave him an advantage in fighting against the drug wars taking place in a crime-infested city. Narrator Keith Szarabajka provides Codella’s story with streetwise New York accents and Puerto Rican-accented English. In delivering the story’s noir style, he excels at depicting the gang members, drug dealers, and other low-lifes the author specialized in putting out of business. Without Szarabajka’s narration, one imagines that the trip into the danger and occasional comedy of such a terrible place would be far less entertaining. Codella doesn’t paints himself as an angel—nor does he talk like one—but he seems like he wears a badge you’d want in your neighborhood.
Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2011
Duration: 9 hrs, 15 mins
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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