This week we hear many takes on the End of Days, become lost in a darkly evocative gothic horror/mystery, cross the country with the self-proclaimed King of Filth, and enjoy a well-crafted detective fiction.
The Silkworm
Robert Galbraith; read by Robert Glenister
Hachette Audio; 14 CDs; 17.5 hours; $18; www.audible.com download, $29.65
The worst-kept secret in publishing is that Galbraith is really J.K. Rowling. Her second installment in the Cormoran Strike mystery series follows “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and is a London-based whodunit in which a middling and arrogant writer disappears and is finally discovered to have suffered an ugly, tortured death. There is nothing new in the conceit of a smart detective and dumb cops, but Strike is a great character, as is his sidekick, Robin. Strike is especially flawed, being that he is a brusque one-legged, heartbroken war hero brought to life with much brio by British actor Glenister. The actor’s manner is deep and gruff and he manages different voices, even females that mostly sound believable, though he is occasionally over the top. Grade: A-minus
The Quick
Lauren Owen; read by Simon Slater
Random House Audio; 15 CDs; 19 hours; $50; www.audible.com download, $38.50
In her literary debut, Owen creates an ambitious gothic horror novel just bordering on a penny dreadful. Set in the latter part of the Victorian era, it first tells the tale of a would-be poet who shares a love that dares not speak its name or will land you in the clink faster than you can say “Oscar Wilde.” Then, about a quarter of the way into the audiobook, we learn of the Aegolius Club, a sinister Dr. Knife, and whispers about the undead of London. Owen reinvents a worn genre with unusual narrative devices, characters that surprise, and sometimes startlingly evocative descriptions. British actor Slater sounds polished and sophisticated when reading narrative and delivers an array of accents that range from American to Cockney. Well done on all counts. Grade: A-minus
Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America
John Waters; read by the author
Macmillan Audio; seven CDs; 8.5 hours; $29.99; www.audible.com download, $27.99
At the age of 66, writer/director/actor Waters decided to hitchhike from his home in Baltimore to his home in San Francisco. He tells his story in three parts: a fictionalized version in which everything goes terribly right, another in which things go terribly wrong, and the real version, which is the best part of the audiobook. The faux tales are funny, but also over the top, very dirty and sometimes hard to tell which is good and which is bad. The real story is filled with funny, sweet people, and a surprisingly frank and clever look at the country’s diversity. Waters reads with a joie de vivre that is infectious. He is spirited and funny and fast, which quite matches the often outrageous material, especially in the fictitious sections. Grade: B-plus
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse
Edited by John Joseph Adams; read by multiple narrators
Blackstone Audio; 14 CDs; 17 hours; $34.95; www.audible.com download, $24.47
Twenty-two dystopian tales examine the unsettling psychological, cultural, physical and political worlds we could possibly inhabit if all goes awry. Disease, prejudice, fear, mutation and hubris are all covered by such authors as Octavia E. Butler, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Jonathan Lethem, Gene Wolfe, Cory Doctorow and many others. A strong collection with nary a dud, it is read by audiobook veterans who can handle an array of characters and imaginative circumstances. One wishes, however, that the narrator were announced with the author and title as each story begins, a small complaint in a compilation that is far more sophisticated and well-packaged than most collections of short stories, which are often wildly uneven. Grade: B-plus
