Stephen King's latest audiobook has four exceptional novellas that are each masterfully narrated. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," narrated by Will Patton in a wistful tenor, is a meditative coming-of-age tale dotted with technophobia and communications from beyond the grave. "The Life of Chuck" is King's most imaginative work in years. Narrator Danny Burstein expertly captures the surreal story's shifting tones, which range from pure joy to abject despair. "If It Bleeds," a sequel to THE OUTSIDER, is also narrated by Patton, who provides a unique and compelling voice for King's recent favorite protagonist, private investigator Holly Gibney. "Rat," about a struggling writer's descent into darkness, is riveting, thanks to narrator Steven Weber's focused intensity. For longtime King listeners and newcomers alike, this collection is essential listening. A.T.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
When Patricia Campbell, a bored, housewife in 1990s Charleston, S.C., sighs, “Don’t you wish that something exciting would happen around here?” she all but invites the chilling horrors that soon enmesh her and her friends in this clever, addictive vampire thriller from Hendrix (We Sold Our Souls). Patricia is one of a clutch of local women who assuage their ennui by forming a book club to discuss pulpy true crime chronicles. Their lives are upended by the arrival of James Harris, an outsider who easily ingratiates himself into their community, bringing an influx of money and good fortune to the town. Patricia alone finds Harris’s lack of traditional identification and sensitivity to daylight peculiar. When people begin to disappear, she struggles to convince her friends that Harris is more sinister than he appears. Hendrix draws shrewd parallels between the serial killers documented in the book club’s picks and Harris’s apparent vampire persona, loading his gruesome story with perfectly-pitched allusions to classic horror novels and true crime accounts. This powerful, eclectic novel both pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary.
In this fictional yet eerily believable audiobook, Washington's Mount Rainier erupts, causing several displaced and hungry Sasquatches to descend on a remote ecovillage called Greenloop. An excellent full cast--including the author, notable film and television stars, and well-known radio personalities--delivers the story, which consists of found documents, transcripts, book excerpts, and interviews. Each narrator does a credible job and contributes positively to the overall narrative. Among the ensemble, Judy Greer is the clear standout. She narrates much of the story, portraying Kate Holland, whose found journal accounts for most of the massacre's documentation. Greer's performance captures the gamut of Kate's emotions, starting with her bubbly excitement upon first arriving in Greenloop and moving on to her unease, terror, and, eventually, steely resolve to survive at any cost. A.T.N. AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
