Flynn, Vince. Kill Shot. 10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 10 hrs. Recorded Bks. 2012. ISBN 9781461805809. $102.75; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; 10 CDs. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. THRILLER
CIA assassin Mitch Rapp is sent to Paris to eliminate a Libyan terrorist. Only his supervisors should know of this operation, but Rapp’s cover is blown, and he barely escapes. Certain that there is a mole, he sets off to unearth the traitor while trying to stay alive. This is Flynn at his best, and Mitch Rapp fans hoping for a solid follow-up to 2010′s American Assassin won’t be disappointed. George Guidall is one of the finest narrators around, and he brings his expertise to this tautly written and highly suspenseful thriller. VERDICT Flynn, Rapp, and Guidall are a winning trifecta; for every collection. [The Atria/Emily Bestler hc was a New York Times best seller.‚ Ed.]‚ Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Lompoc, CA
King, Stephen. The Stand. 37 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 47 hrs. Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 9780449008607. $100; 37 CDs. retail ed.; digital download. HORROR
Released in 1978, King’s apocalyptic novel, even at a whopping 1200-plus pages, had been trimmed by 150,000 words. A restored version followed in 1990, and that unexpurgated text here makes its audiobook debut‚ and it’s well worth the wait. The story offers the author’s signature scenes of horror, but King devotes much time to describing a world gone mad and the people left to populate it after a virus wipes out most of the planet’s population. Even though there are hundreds of characters, only a handful are primary, and King shows his skill at making them real, as the uncanny talent of narrator Grover Gardner brings them to life. His reading is flawless, his timing is spot-on, and his slightly Southern accent makes even curse words sound amusing. VERDICT Despite the price and the daunting listening time, this audiobook belongs in every library.‚ Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Lompoc, CA
Kyle, Chris with Scott McEwen & Jim DeFelice. American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. 9 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 10¬Ω hrs. Harper Audio. 2012. ISBN 9780062209498. $29.99; digital download. AUTOBIOG
Iraqi insurgents called him The Devil, but to American and coalition forces fighting in Iraq, U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Kyle was a guardian angel. The native Texan delivers a mesmerizing and solidly built personal narrative of a little-known but fascinating aspect of the war. The honesty, humor, and details of Kyle’s life remind one of Charles Henderson’s classic Marine Sniper about the late Carlos Hathcock. VERDICT This well-crafted story makes one laugh and cry and is essential for understanding those who have given themselves to the American military in the long struggle against terrorism. John Pruden’s masterly narration is well paced and incorporates a skillful use of accents. Highly recommended. [The Morrow hc, published in January, was a New York Times best seller.‚ Ed.]‚ Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.
Audio News
HarperAudio is releasing 15 fiction and nonfiction titles of Czech author Milan Kundera previously unavailable in any audio format as unabridged downloadable audiobooks. The publisher said that the series launched in May with The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979). The novels The Joke (1967), Immortality (1990), Slowness (1995), Identity (1998), Ignorance (2002), The Farewell Waltz (1972), Life Is Elsewhere (1973); essay collections The Curtain (2007) and Encounter (2010); short story collection Laughable Loves (1969); and nonfiction The Art of the Novel (2003)and Testaments Betrayed (1996) will be available soon thereafter. Kundera’s play Jacques and His Master (1971), translated by Simon Callow, will be published as both a physical book and an audiobook. It will be the first time this translation will be available in North America. Veteran actors and audiobook readers Richmond Hoxie and Graeme Malcolm will narrate the fiction and the nonfiction, respectively.
Three 2012 Edgar Award‚ winning works are available as audiobooks. Best Fact Crime is Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, marketed in a library edition from Books on Tape and in a retail edition from Random Audio as well as from Playaway. In addition to garnering a starred review (LJ 11/15/11), Millard’s chronicle of the assassination of President Garfield was also a Best Audio of 2011 (LJ 1/12). Snagging the Best First Novel trophy, Lori Roy’s Bent Road is available from Blackstone Audio on CD and MP3. Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Company Man, which won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original, is available from Recorded Books.‚ Mike Rogers
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The following titles are reviewed in the June 1 print issue. Visit our Reviews Center (Beta) for the full reviews.
FICTION
Block, Lawrence. Chip Harrison Scores Again: A Chip Harrison Mystery. 4 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 4 hrs. AudioGO. 2012. ISBN 9780792779711. $54.95; Playaway digital; digital download. F
Dau, Stephen. The Book of Jonas. 5 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 6 hrs. Tantor Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781452635972. $53.99; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; 5 CDs. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. F
Jance, J.A. Left for Dead. 9 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 10¬Ω hrs. Recorded Bks. 2012. ISBN 9781461835202. $102.75; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; 9 CDs. retail ed. S. & S. Audio; Playaway digital; digital download. MYS
Kerouac, Jack. The Sea Is My Brother. 4 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 5 hrs. Blackstone Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781455153251. $55;1 MP3-CD; Playaway digital. F
Kinsella, Sophie. I’ve Got Your Number.11 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 13¬Ω hrs. Random Audio. 2012. ISBN 9780739383285. $40; Playaway digital; digital download. F
Kleypas, Lisa. Rainshadow Road. 7 CDs. library ed.. unabridged. 8 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781441847676. $79.97; 7 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. library/retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. ROMANCE
Le Carré, John. The Honourable Schoolboy: A George Smiley Novel. 16 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 20¬Ω hrs. Penguin Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781611760880. $49.95. F
Martin, George R.R. A Storm of Swords. (Song of Fire & Ice, Bk. 3). 39 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 47¾ hrs. Random Audio. ISBN 9780449011904. $90; 39 CDs. retail ed.; digital download. Fantasy
Parameswaran, Rajesh. I Am an Executioner: Love Stories. 8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9¾ hrs. Dreamscape Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781611205664. $59.99; 8 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. F
Ullman, Ellen. By Blood. 12 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 14 hrs. Blackstone Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781455127207. $105; 12 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. F
NONFICTION
Black, Dustin Lance. 8. 2 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 2¼ hrs. L.A. Theatre Works. 2012. ISBN 9781580818896. $29.95; retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. DRAMA
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: A Life, Part 1 (1874‚ 1918). 10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 10 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 9781445839080. $79.95; 10 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD; digital download. BIOG
Jacobs, A.J. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. 9 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 11 hrs. S. & S. Audio. 2012. ISBN 9780743598767. $39.99; 9 CDs. retail ed.; digital download. HEALTH
Lashinsky, Adam. Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired‚ and Secretive‚ Company Really Works. 6 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 6¬Ω hrs. Hachette Audio. 2012. ISBN 9781611130959. $26.98; digital download. BUS
Shange, Ntozake. Lost in Language and Sound; or, How I Found My Way to the Arts‚ Essays. 6 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 4 hrs. AudioGO. 2012. ISBN 9780792784685. $59.95; 6 CDs. retail ed.; digital download. AUTOBIOG/LIT
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