Michael Finkel narrates the opening of this memorable portrait of Stéphane Breitwieser, the sly European thief who pilfered nearly $2 billion in art objects—treasures he and his girlfriend hoarded in his mother’s attic. Finkel’s investigative role provides context and perspective, while narrator Edoardo Ballerini performs his customary magic, enhancing the narrative’s strengths and minimizing its shortcomings. Breitwieser’s story is dramatic, highly cinematic, but ultimately sad. The thief evolves into a compulsive loser, and the narrative slides toward a dead end. Here one appreciates Ballerini’s skill and artistry, which sustain momentum over the sloughs. Here, too, one appreciates the author’s return to acknowledge the many curators, investigators, and journalists who generously assisted him, leaving us with the story’s focus on recovery and restoration, rather than loss.
Pub Date: June 27, 2023
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593741696
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Through no fault of the narrator, the audiobook as a whole isn’t that compelling.
This investigation into the rise and fall of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is detailed but less than thrilling. The author, a sociologist and journalist, thoroughly describes ELF’s targeted acts of arson, which began in the mid-’90s. ELF members' motivations to save Western forests from the death spiral of logging andgeneralconsumption of the natural world are well explored. Dan John Miller’s voice is arresting, and his pacing keeps the audio moving briskly. But the ELF members’ backstories aren't interesting or memorable, and their eventual capture by law enforcement isn’t dramatic. More salient is hearing how the group’s arson attacks led the Department of Justice to begin prosecuting any act of environmental protest as terrorism. Wolfe narrates the epilogue with heartfelt dejection, cataloging current environmental catastrophes that ELF members were so impassioned to prevent.
Through no fault of the narrator, the audiobook as a whole isn’t that compelling.Pub Date: June 23, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 22 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217338771
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2026
Sad as this story is, it’s hard to stop listening.
This well-researched, well-told history of the theft of Cambodia’s ancient art and the desecration of its magnificent temples enrages even as it fascinates and holds listeners in suspense in ways that only true-crime stories can With his British accent, versatile narrator Nicholas Boulton proves the perfect match as Campbell details how, in the years after the horrors of Cambodia’s killing fields, an art dealer sold the pieces both to private collectors and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then, cat-and-mouse style, evaded a manhunt. Boulton is a graceful and polished performer, and his narration is nicely attuned to a history that reveals many ironies and its own brand of justice.
Sad as this story is, it’s hard to stop listening.Pub Date: June 2, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 34 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217336876
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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