Joe Mantegna's steady, unaffected reading of Johnson's history of Atlantic City is a model of good audiobook narration. Mantegna seems the perfect choice for this title, a solid professional whose voice is tuned to both the drama of individual moments and the rising and falling arcs of the narrative as a whole. Most important, with ease and consistency he keeps up the pace of a story that sometimes drags as the author reviews the city's racial history, political structure, and intricate gaming laws. There's plenty to enjoy, and the HBO series based on Johnson's book covers only a portion of it. Not just for history buffs, this is also a study on how communities and businesses grow and decline --- and are sometimes reborn.

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award