The author's third novel continues to record doings in the fictional rural community of Mannville, New York. In this one, 16-year-old iconoclastic tomboy Haley "Flash Jackson" Bombauer breaks her leg and hence looks forward to a boring summer of convalescence. But the next months prove very interesting--indeed, life changing--as Haley discovers that she has inherited psychic powers from her Mennonite forebears. The book keeps the listener alert with its humor, colorful characters, suspense, and, as read by Julie Dretzin, considerable charm. Dretzin wonderfully impersonates our heroine and, without actually fully voicing them, such other characters as her idiot savant neighbor, her timorous mother, and the sweet little old lady neighbor who turns out to be a retired CIA operative. The text lends itself to this approach, and had Dretzin managed to sustain that impression of storytelling, she would have made an excellent reading a superb one.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 11 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This audiobook is initially daunting. Sixteen hours long and constructed of subtle—at times, even confusing—shifts in point of view, it may feel overwhelming in the first hour. But sticking with George Newbern’s narration and Gilbert’s prose yields great rewards. Newbern’s performance is funny, thoughtful, heartrending, and utterly engrossing. When the famous, now aging, author A.N. Dyer calls his distant sons to his side, Newbern is provided ample characters to animate, and he does so with perfect pacing and what seems like an innate understanding of the novel. He creates a rhythm that makes the changing perspectives easy to follow and Gilbert’s details accessible. & SONS is a perfect example of how a skilled narrator can make a good book even better.
Pub Date: July 23, 2013
Duration: 16 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780385359566
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Following multiple lives over six decades, this is a story of cultural shifts, the effects of racial prejudice, and family secrets. Joy Osmanski's narration is engaged and easy to listen to. There are times when her narration is uneven and character accents are inconsistent, but she moves the story along at an excellent pace. Will Damron capably narrates a few descriptive paragraphs at the beginning to set the scene. During the '50s, as bombs are explode in Nevada's deserts to entertain Las Vegas tourists, four sets of characters experience the destruction caused by prejudice and social upheaval in their lives. The author skillfully integrates the lives of vivid and realistic characters, bringing them to a satisfying and surprising denouement in the final chapters.
Pub Date: May 2, 2017
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781508234715
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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