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What is the future of Audiobooks? That's one of the questions that was raised at the
APA Conference this year. Some publishers are already placing their bets on MP3 format
CDs, which can hold up to 12 hours on one disk and substantially bring down the price of
unabridged audiobooks. Blackstone Audio already has over 40 unabridged titles available in
MP3 format and is adding more each month, citing the emergence of new CD players, which
are MP3 compatible. I asked Ron Prowell at Books on Tape for a response to this:
We are big believers in the potential for MP3 CDs. MP3 is clearly the dominant
compressed format and most of the major equipment and auto manufacturers seem to be headed
in the MP3 disc direction. We believe that for the unabridged audiobook market, sending
loaded MP3 CDs in the mail is much more practical for the consumer than trying to download
and transfer 20 hours of content to a portable device. MP3 CDs are also just as secure a
medium as conventional CDs. If this technology takes hold with consumers, this will
ultimately drive down the marginal cost for audiobooks to the point where consumer
purchase prices will be comparable to print prices. Then, I think, there is tremendous
opportunity to significantly expand the market for content. From our perspective, we'd
much rather sell audiobooks on single discs than rent ten 90-minute cassettes. And so we
will be launching a line of MP3 CDs in the near future.
As a first MP3 review, I sampled LETTERS FROM
ATLANTIS by Robert Silverberg, which is an SF tale that follows researchers Roy and
Lora as they travel back in time to inhabit the consciousness of Atlantians (or Athilans)
to discover what happens to the fabled city. This is a short novel of 3 hours on one CD,
playable on computer or on the new CD-R compatible players made available due to so many
people burning their own CDs off the internet. The MP3 files are indexed by chapter and
play similarly to a standard CD. Narrator Tom Parker (alias for Grover Gardner) does an
excellent job, as usual, with his crisp enunciation and characteristic phrasing. Easy to
listen to, Gardner is totally understandable and employs subtle nuances to make the story
interesting. Hats off as well to Blackstone for pioneering a format that, if others
follow, will become the standard and the future of audiobooks.
If your favorite show is "The Practice," you might enjoy THE GREAT DIVIDE
by T. Davis Bunn about a retired lawyer who is drawn back into the practice of law at the
request of a couple whose daughter disappeared while investigating slave labor at a U.S.
factory that manufactures sports shoes in China. (Nike, are you listening?) Buck Schirner
lends his deep voice to the tale, and while he is not a particularly gifted actor in
multiple voice character interpretation, his reading projects well over car/truck stereo
speakers, and he does hold the interest of even those of us who usually yawn at courtroom
drama.
Brian Haig's first novel is SECRET SANCTION,
about a military Jag officer sent to investigate a purported massacre by U.S. troops
during the war in Bosnia. Actor John Rubenstein is an excellent choice to read this
suspense, lending to it a sense of meticulous reportage while maintaining a feel for
discovery along the twisting path of the plotline. Do the ends ever justify the means?
That's the question this novel takes on and boldly answers.
PET SEMATARY
is an older tale by Stephen King given new life as a full cast BBC radio production. As
you may remember, a new doctor arrives in rural Maine to live next to a highway and some
woods. When cats and other pets are killed on the highway by passing trucks, they get
buried in the cemetery in the woods and come back to life. The woods are haunted, you see.
There's history there. Then the doctor's son is run over by a trucker, although the
trucker can't be blamed --- it's the evil in the woods that caused him to put pedal to
metal. You can guess what the bad doctor does next. For an ending you can't guess, go with
King's THE MIST, also in full cast format.
Dan Rather reads his own new book THE AMERICAN
DREAM: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation, which consists of essays and examples of
people from all walks of life hoping to achieve success in America. The CBS news anchor
defines what success means to people and reveals that the American dream is far from dead.
Conclusion? Although we have our problems, the phrase Only in America is still true today,
and the U.S. remains the most sought-after refuge for those seeking freedom worldwide.
This is an uplifting book that offers cynics from all factions and parties pause to
reflect about where we came from and where we're going. Although the selection of stories
may seem to reflect Rather's bias toward the left, his narration is natural, unlike the
sing-song tabloid TV lilt affecting "The O'Reilly
Factor."
The following is a list of other worthy audio titles:
PURPLE CANE
ROAD by James Lee Burke, read by Will Patton. All of Burke's books are masterpieces,
including HEARTWOOD, SUNSET LIMITED, CIMARRON ROSE, DIXIE CITY JAM, HEAVEN'S PRISONERS,
and CADILLAC JUKEBOX. Best of all, narrator Patton is the perfect choice to read the
series, capturing both the southern Louisana accent and the very persona of
detective-turned-bait-store-operator Dave Robicheaux to perfection.
VERTICAL RUN
by Joseph R. Garber, read by Stephen Lang. Similar to the plot of the movie Die Hard,
the suspense never stops.
CARPOOL by Mary Cahill is a witty suburban housewife mystery. In it, former pilot Jenny
Meade comes across a corpse swinging from a tree during her hectic driving schedule and
gets a chance to fly again after being chased by criminals to the airport. Read by Barbara
Rosenblat and John R. Jones.
DRIVING FORCE by Dick Francis, read by Simon Prebble. A trucking company tale with plenty
of action and intrigue.
In THE
INDWELLING, book seven of the best-selling Tribulation series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry
B. Jenkins, the Antichrist comes back from the dead at his own funeral and declares
himself God. As read by Jack Sondericker on unabridged audio, this Christian crossover
series is a must-listen.
ON
THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac, read by Alexander Adams. This beatnik novel is a classic
travelogue about self discovery.
GOD
IS MY BROKER by Brother Ty with Christopher Buckley and John Tierney, read by Mark
Linn-Baker. A funny comic novel about a Wall Street broker who becomes a monk.
One of the most prolific of authors is detective novelist Ed McBain, whose latest THE
LAST DANCE marks his 50th 87th Precinct novel. The man has written more than 80 novels
in total, some under the pseudonym Evan Hunter. And who more fitting to read this latest
novel on audio than the author himself? With a natural style, McBain tackles the ethnic
difficulties of interpreting his characters, rendering Puerto Rican, Irish, and even
Pakistani accents with ease, as Steve Carella investigates strip clubs and contract
killers in following up on a plot involving an old man's death by hanging and the rights
to an old musical. Believable is a word that comes to mind, as the author immerses himself
into his characters' world. Winner of an Earphones award from Audiofile magazine,
this latest abridgment on audio from Simon & Schuster follows previously recorded
McBain narrations, including his THE LAST BEST HOPE, NOCTURNE, and THE BIG BAD CITY. So if
you like police detective novels, you'll love THE LAST DANCE from an author who has been
writing them since 1954 with THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE.
--- Reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
(Jonathan Lowe reviews for Audiobookcafe.com and is author of POSTAL,
an Earphones Award-winning suspense novel on audio, read by Frank Muller.)
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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