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tropes, but most of the fun this time train set—believed to have belonged to employs the vocals of three actors with
comes from the author’s creative ideas for Robert E. Lee—that he knows is worth mixed results. Actor Boutsikaris is a
futuristic technology. The best of these is millions. In “The Five-Carat Soul Bottom master of tempo, and her well-tempered
Winston, a beyond-the-cutting-edge artifi- Bone Band,” Nile Bullock perfectly cap- reading here keeps listeners fastened to
cial intelligence created by Edmond Kirsch, tures the rhythmic speech of Butter, one of the story. Jones and Cuervo, on the other
a former student of Langdon’s. After Kirsch a group of teenaged boys whose band prac- hand, tend to enunciate too carefully,
is murdered, minutes before disclosing a tices above a Chinese restaurant in a pre- obstructing Allende’s rhythms and
world-shaking discovery about the origin of dominantly African-American town called causing listeners to focus on individual
life, Winston supplies Langdon with back- The Bottom. Prentice Onayemi is equally words rather than the story as a whole.
ground information, advice, and, when masterly in the other stories about young That said, the three actors convincingly
needed, life-saving escape tips. Reader men stuck at the bottom of society. Veteran portray the three protagonists of Allende’s
Michael gives Winston a wry British voice voice actor Dominic Hoffman gives a con- story, all of whom cross paths in Brooklyn.
(more Hugh Grant than Anthony Hopkins) summate performance as the zoo animals Each is scarred by experiences related to
and a charming attitude that easily qualifies who communicate telepathically with each the Latin American political landscape of
him as the novel’s most entertaining char- other and with humans in the wonderful, the 1970s: NYU professor Richard
acter. When circumstances quiet Winston whimsical, and surprising “Mr. P and the Bowmaster is a human rights scholar who
for much too long, the book turns dull. The Wind.” This is one of the best audiobooks has worked in Brazil; his tenant, Lucia
rather stiff-sounding Langdon and his com- of 2017. A Riverhead hardcover. (Oct.) Maraz, is a visiting professor from Chile;
panion, Ambra Vidal, the “future queen of and Evelyn Ortega is an undocumented
Spain,” rush breathlessly from Madrid to From a Certain Point of View immigrant from Guatemala who crashes
Bilbao to Barcelona, trying to uncover (Star Wars) into Richard’s car while driving her
Kirsch’s secret discovery while simultane- Renée Ahdieh et al., read by multiple narrators. employer’s Lexus on a snowy day. The
ously avoiding a loony religious hit man Random House Audio, unabridged, 14 CDs, book includes a somewhat awkward mix-
and the police, who believe they killed 15 hrs., $45 ISBN 978-0-451-48621-9 ture of light romantic comedy and heavy
Kirsch. But it’s only when Winston returns, A stylistically diverse group of authors personal and political tragedies—the
with his all-knowing yet likeable voice, commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Pinochet years, the terror of MS-13, the
that the energy and vitality of the story original Stars Wars film with this plight of immigrants, and the hideous
once again match the plot’s relentless anthology of short stories about minor business of sex slavery in the U.S. The
activity. That’s no fault of actor Michael, characters from the film. The collection readers are sweet in the romantic parts,
who admirably keeps up with Brown’s assembles big-name authors from the but Allende’s minute descriptions of vio-
pace throughout. A Doubleday hardcover. realms of comics (Kieron Gillen, Matt lent personal and political events are
(Oct.) Fraction), sci-fi (Nnedi Okorafor, Ken harder to follow. An Atria hardcover. (Oct.)
Liu), young adult literature (Elizabeth
Wein, Sabaa Tahir), and Star Wars fiction The Best Kind of People
(John Jackson Miller, Claudia Gray). Zoe Whittall, read by Cassandra Campbell.
Fittingly, the audiobook brings in highly Random House Audio, unabridged, 9 CDs,
acclaimed actors, including audiobook 11.5 hrs., $40 ISBN 978-0-525-49412-6
veterans (January LaVoy, Jonathan Davis) Campbell is a seasoned narrator with a
and celebrities (Neil Patrick Harris, Jon lovely, lilting tone who creates easily rec-
Hamm). While the pairings between actor ognized voices and mannerisms for the
and story are adequate, the overall produc- diverse characters in Whittall’s latest.
tion is more noteworthy for its high-quality Joan’s husband George is universally
sound design. Each story is enlivened by admired as an upstanding member of his
background music and an array of sound community, as perpetual teacher of the
effects (alien noises or the shuffling foot- year, and as a hero who saved his daughter
steps of soldiers marching in line add and other children from a gun-wielding
★ Five-Carat Soul atmospheric detail to the narration). Loyal maniac. Then, suddenly, George lands in
James McBride, read by multiple narrators. listeners of the Star Wars franchise audio- jail. He is alleged to have sexually abused
Penguin Audio, unabridged, 8 CDs, 9 hrs., $35 books will agree that this is one of the best more than one of the girls in his daugh-
ISBN 978-0-525-49796-7 yet. A Del Rey hardcover. (Oct.) ter’s high school class. Campbell hooks
Four talented actors bring to life the listeners in the gruesome swings between
zany characters in the excellent audio edi- In the Midst of Winter denial and rage experienced by George’s
tion of McBride’s story collection. In “The Isabel Allende, read by Dennis Boutsikaris, wife, Joan, his daughter, Sadie, and his
Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set,” Jasmine Cephas Jones, and Alma Cuervo. son, Andrew. At times the characteriza-
Arthur Morey conveys the apoplectic con- S&S Audio, unabridged, 9 CDs, 10.5 hrs., tion of Joan sounds too whiny for a char-
fusion of an antique toy salesman when a $34.99 ISBN 978-1-5082-4195-9 acter who otherwise comes across as a
poor black preacher offers to gift him a The audiobook of Allende’s latest novel strong woman. Nevertheless, Campbell

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