This week we have three thrillers and a novel about a marriage gone wrong.
Gwendy’s Button Box
Stephen King and Richard Chizmar; read by Maggie Siff
Simon & Schuster Audioworks, three CDs, 2.5 hours, $14.99/www.audible.com download, $10.49
When 12-year-old Maine resident Gwendy Peterson meets a strange man while resting after a rigorous workout, he offers her a magical little box that will give her pleasure, power and success. Though skeptical, she accepts, only to learn that with such power comes consequence. Both creepy and witty, it completely engages the listener, thanks in part to narrator Siff, who sounds appropriately youthful, perplexed or frightened as need be. She then raises the drama quotient for the more obvious horror of “The Music Box.” An added treat is a short interview with King at the end, though the sound quality is quite poor. Grade: A
Walkaway
Cory Doctorow; read by Amber Benson, Gabrielle de Cuir, Justine Eyre, Amanda Palmer, Lisa Renee Pitts, Wil Wheaton, Mirron Willis
Cory Doctorow and Blackstone Audio, 15 CDs, 19.25 hours, $34.95/www.downpour.com download, $24.95
Long, sometimes overly complicated but unfailingly intriguing, this dystopian sci-fi thriller by Doctorow is surprisingly hopeful and shows boundless imagination. The end of death, ongoing love, scarcity and creativity are all grist for the survival mill in a not-too-distant future that is a clear continuation of present society. There is an undercurrent of dark humor to balance the despair of a world in which people have walked away from the mainstream to build their own communities, often using computers and 3D printers. The narrators are all spot-on. They have interesting voices, are well-matched to each character, and bring energy and emotion to the production, which suffers somewhat from an uneven sound quality. Grade: B-plus
It’s Always the Husband
Michele Campbell; read by January LaVoy
Macmillan Audio, eight CDs, 10.5 hours, $39.99/www.audible.com download, $27.99
Red herrings and frenemies abound in this novel of three young women who meet at college and stay friends for the rest of their lives, though one of those lives ends much sooner than the rest. January LaVoy is always a pleasure to hear and delivers an emotional punch when needed or makes a character sound appropriately sympathetic. The problem is that most of the characters are not just flawed, but are so downright unlikable that it’s not a surprise when the novel opens with a murder. There are plenty of plot twists and Campbell almost has us, although the ending is a bit too convoluted as plot strands unwind. Grade: B-minus
Woman No. 17
Edan Lepucki; read by Cassandra Campbell and Phoebe Strole
Random House Audio, 10 CDs, 12 hours, $45;/www.audible.com download, $31.50
Very rarely does an audiobook grate on one’s nerves, but this novel about an unraveling marriage and an oddball babysitter seems to be about nothing. Writer Lady Daniels has left her husband, though a good reason is never actually given, and hires a live-in nanny from Craigslist without checking a reference, and then proceeds to befriend the sitter as a confidante and drinking buddy. The nanny, who goes only by S., is living her life in an impersonation of her mother as an art project. For whom this project is intended is unclear. Told from alternating perspectives, both narrators ably and enjoyably express the angst, dark humor and neediness of the women. Grade: C-plus
