Tag: The In Between

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2020

Given the large number of audiobooks I listened to in 2020, I sort of felt like I had to focus on them for one of these posts. But how to keep this from being just a rehash of the other best of lists? Well, I focused on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance?

Truth be told, this was a harder choice than I expected. Also, a couple of books that were in my mental rough draft didn’t make it to the final version when all was said and done (I’m still not sure I made the right call on a couple of these).

(in alphabetical order by author)

Dark JennyDark Jenny

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

My original post
Stefan Rudnicki brilliantly captures the humor, the confusion, the determination of Eddle LaCrosse and the situation he finds himself in—and then the horror, revulsion, and anger he has when he discovers what’s really going on. Starting with one of Bledsoe’s best books, Rudnicki goes on to bring it to life.

4 Stars

Dash & Lily's Book of DaresDash & Lily’s Book of Dares

by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, Ryan Gesell (Narrator), Tara Sands (Narrator)

My original post
For me, this book came along at the right time—its particular brand of silly and escapist sweetness was exactly what it turned out that I needed. Add in a couple of stellar performances from Ryan Gesell Tara Sands and it’s just a delight. They can make you believe (even temporarily) in the magic of Christmas and young love.

3.5 Stars

Luck and JudgementLuck and Judgement

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on saying it: there’s a certain magic, an ineffable alchemy about Jackson narrating Grainger’s work. It’s just fantastic, I think I’d have liked these audiobooks with another narrator (or in print), but I don’t think I’d have liked them as much.

I could’ve listed each book in this series here, but I limited myself to this one because it’s an atypical crime for a novel, the solution (and how Smith and his team come to it) is offbeat, there’s some great humor and great emotional beats, too. It’s Grainger at his best and Jackson delivers it perfectly. There is a strong sense of humanity in these books, not just in the protagonists, but in the victim, the killer, the witnesses, the people who aren’t the killer but who aren’t up to anything legal/moral/ethical…everyone. There’s no one cartoon-y or over the top (in any direction).

4 Stars

The In BetweenThe In Between

by Michael Landweber, Brittany Pressley (Narrator), Mark Boyett (Narrator)

My original post
This is the story of what happens to a family when a young child goes missing during a teleportation trip that his parents make successfully (to put it too succinctly) It’s a gripping listen and wonderfully performed. As you may have guessed Brittany Pressley narrates the chapters from the mother’s point of view, and Mark Boyett takes the father’s. I don’t think I’d heard anything by either of them beforebut I’ll keep my eyes peeled for their names when I browse for audiobooks in the future. They truly did wonderful jobs. They got the emotion of the moment, the tensionand occasional moments of fun, joy, or reliefas well as giving a real sense of the characters. It didn’t happen often, but even when a character usually only seen in a Lillian chapter showed up in a Jackson, you could recognize them (and vice versa)which was nice. Landweber wrote a great story but Boyett and Pressley brought it to life.

5 Stars

GreenlightsGreenlights

by Matthew McConaughey

My original post
When Chris Hardwick interviewed McConaughey recently he described the audiobook as McConaughey playing McConaughey, which is a great way to put it, and I wish he’d posted this before I wrote about the book so I could’ve borrowed it then. But that’s it exactly, Yes, it’s his stories, but yeah, he’s performing. It feels like you’re sitting around the campfire or a table in a bar, listening to a great storyteller at work.

3.5 Stars

Crossing in TimeCrossing in Time

by D. L. Orton, Noah Michael Levine (Narrator), Erin deWard (Narrator)

My original post
Typically, when I post about an Audiobook, I close with a discussion about the narrator(s). But I started with it when I posted about this novel because Levine and deWard did such a great job, they’re the highlight of the experience for me. Typically, when there is a male narrator and a female narrator—the female will read all the narration and dialogue in the female character POV chapters, and the male will read all the narration and dialogue in the male character POV chapters. But here, deWard reads all the female dialogue, no matter the narrator (and vice versa). That’s a nice touch, and once I got used to it, I really appreciated it. Particularly, it helped the conversations between characters feel like conversations—there was a little bit of talking over each other, and so on. And when the two laughed together? That was either fantastic work by the narrators or by the editor (or both).

I’m not that sure how much I’d have enjoyed this book in print, but the way these two embodied the book made it one of the highlights of the year.

4 Stars

Far from the TreeFar from the Tree

by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator)

My original post
This was an Audible Original, so the Audiobook experience is a big part of it. Brown was a great choice of narrator—he’s the perfect voice for this material. He captured and shaped the tone as he needed to, and gave the right performances for each character.

I can’t help feeling like I need to say more, but I just don’t know what else to say. If I had problems with the performance, I’d probably be able to go on longer, but when a narrator gets it right, like Brown does here, what else is there to say? It was a brutal, brutal experience, with more twists than I can count, and a plot so complex I’m not able to talk about it in this small space.

4 Stars

Back to RealityBack to Reality

by Mark Stay & Mark Oliver, Kim Bretton (Narrator)

My original post
This is sort of a Fringe-inspired take on a Back to the Future/Freaky Friday mashup, and it’s as odd, and fun as that description makes it sound.

I’ll frequently (maybe too frequently?) talk about an audiobook narrator bringing the text to life. And Kim Bretton does that. But she does more than that—she fills it with life. Dynamic, energetic, vibrant…are just some of the adjectives that spring to mind. I was very happy when I just looked over her other audiobook credits and saw a couple of titles I was already thinking about—if she’s doing them, I’m giving them a try. (although, if I never hear her do another American male accent, I’d be more than okay).

Funny, sweet, amusing, heartfelt, laugh-inducing, touching, comic, imaginative—and did I mention humorous? This is 606 minutes of pure entertainment. I really encourage you to put this in your ear-holes. It’d probably work almost as well in print—Bretton’s great, but she has to have something to work with—but in audio? It’s close to a must-listen.

4 Stars

The Answer IsThe Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life

by Alex Trebek, Narrated by: Ken Jennings, Alex Trebek

My original post
Jennings was a great choice of narrator, since his time on Jeopardy!, the two are linked in the collective consciousness, and they clearly have a good relationship. He sounds like a natural when it comes to narration. But his work is overshadowed by the few chapters he didn’t read.

Trebek read a few chapters himself—the one about why he swears so often (it surprised me, too), the one talking about notable Jeopardy! contestants (like Jennings), the one about his wife (Trebek didn’t like the idea of someone else talking about his wife that way), and the last chapter, where he discussed his cancer and coming to terms with his impending death. I understand why he couldn’t do the entire book himself, but I’d have preferred it (nothing against Jennings—I’d have been content with Jennings doing the whole thing). But I’m so glad he did those chapters, you could hear the sincerity in his praise for Jennings, Eddie Timanus, Cindy Stowell, and others; his love for his wife; and the resolution and contemplation he’d put into his final days

4 1/2 Stars

Dawn PatrolDawn Patrol

by Don Winslow, Ray Porter (Narrator)

Wow. Despite this being my first and favorite Winslow novel, I wasn’t inclined to grab the audiobook. But then it was on sale and a fellow Winslow-fan recommended Porter’s take on the book. I didn’t know that Porter did audiobooks before this, but he’s on my list to watch for now.

I don’t know how to describe this—I was blown away. I’ve read the book two or three times, but Porter made it feel like it was all new. I was gripped. I was entertained. I was heartbroken. It’s as good as you can ask for an audiobook to be.

5 Stars

A Few (more) Quick Questions With…Michael Landweber

Oh, wow…hard to believe it’s been almost 4 years since we did this for Thursday, 1:17 PM! Apparently, he’s used the time very well. I had many, many questions I’d like to ask about The In Between, but they’d require hours of both of us (and would probably eliminate the need for anyone who read this to listen to the book)— so, I’ll limit myself to these.

How is the process different for you in preparing something for an Audible Original rather than print?
The process of writing the book was no different than my usual process, which is to charge headlong into it and hope for the best. The initial editorial process was also similar. It was a joy to work with my editor at Audible, Lara Blackman. As all good editors do, she helped me improve the book significantly. There are some editorial differences for audio only that I would have never considered, such as limiting dialogue tags (“she said”) because the narrators are doing that work for you. But overall I did not change my approach much to write this as an Audible Original.
What part of this novel came first? The teleportation technology (and/or the problems with it), the world, the characters? And then how did you go about adding the rest?
I always start books with a what if question. In this case, it was what if you got lost teleporting. Of course, once a question sticks in my mind, I face the far more difficult task of figuring out how to turn the answer into a compelling story. So characters and plot come next with the world filling in around them. In this case, when I realized that it was a child who gets lost, I knew I had my novel. I’ve got two kids myself, and even though they’re teenagers now and slightly less prone to wandering off, the thought of them being lost is terrifying.
Why Tokyo? I get Omaha, but what was it that made Tokyo the destination for the family? (I have theories, e.g. the opportunity to write off a trip to Japan on your taxes, but I’d rather hear from you)
Actually, Omaha is a more random choice for me than Tokyo. I was an East Asian Studies major in college, focusing on Japan. After graduation, I lived in Tokyo for a year, working at the English-language Japan Times as a copy editor. It is a wonderful country and fascinating from an outsider perspective. Japan is also such a tech-forward place and Tokyo itself has so many hidden oddities in those towering buildings that it made sense to me that folks might be running bootleg teleporters in Akihabara.
When self-driving cars become the norm, are you going to be one insisting on manual control?
I am definitely a Luddite when it comes to self-driving cars. I just can’t bring myself to trust them. I get nervous even watching ads where the cars are parking themselves. Logically, I know that self-driving cars are probably less prone to fatal errors that human beings. But I still can’t quite fathom being in a car that is driving itself. This is not a new issue for me. In high school, I wrote a terrible story about a guy who gets into a self-driving cab that follows everything he says literally. The guy gets pissed and yells “Go to Hell!” That was a pretty typical ending for the stories I wrote in high school.
(I’d pay to read a copy of that story…)

So how awesome are Brittany Pressley and Mark Boyett as narrators? (there’s a softball for you)

They are amazing. When I found out that I would be able to make suggestions on the narrators, I canvassed my friends who are Audible listeners for ideas. Both Brittany and Mark’s names came up repeatedly. I’m also very lucky that Audible decided to give me two narrators for the alternating Lillian and Jackson chapters. The combination of the two voices really brings the book to life.
(I want the record to show that I hadn’t read these responses when I wrote my post about the book, I didn’t steal this phrase from him. But glad to see I’m not alone in thinking it.)

Thanks for your time and willingness to let me badger you with these questions–I really enjoyed The In Between and truly hope that it finds the audience it deserves.

The In Between (Audiobook) by Michael Landweber, Brittany Pressley (Narrator), Mark Boyett (Narrator): When the Unthinkable Happens, What’s a Parent to Do?

A quick Q&A with the author, Michael Landweber, is coming later this morning—be sure to come back and check it out!

The In Between

The In Between

by Michael Landweber, Brittany Pressley (Narrator), Mark Boyett (Narrator)

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 7 min.
Audible Original, 2020

Read: February 28-March 3, 2020


A couple of years ago, when mystery writer Brad Parks wrote his first stand-alone thriller, in more than a couple of interviews I heard/read him talk about the struggle getting going. A friend gave him some advice to “write the book that scares you,” which would likely scare his readers. He ended up deciding that as a parent, the thing that scared him the most was something involving trauma to one of his kids. Which resulted in at least two different novels (Say Nothing and Closer than You Know), both of which provided me with a level of fear I don’t usually get from thrillers. I couldn’t stop thinking about that anecdote and those two books while I listened to this, did someone give Landweber similar advice?

We start off meeting Lillian, who works in the PR department of Teleportation Services International. She’s taking her son’s class on a tour of TSIsomething she and his teacher had arranged to help him deal with his anxiety about their upcoming trip via Teleportation. Cole is shy, nervous, and not really assured by this exercisealthough the rest of his class has a blast (and it sounded pretty fun to me, too).

Then we meet her husband, Jackson. Jackson is one of the few drivers around in 2047his clientele is primarily made up of the elderly who won’t trust self-driving cars (and, yeah, it occurred to me that I’d be one of his client base on both of those counts) and those whose mental health or anxiety issues won’t allow them to trust the cars, either. He augments this income by teaching super-rich teens how to drive the smattering of sports cars still around so they can go on joyrides.

TSI gives one employee’s family a month a free week’s vacation to anywhere in the worldand then milks their experience for publicity. They’ve picked Tokyoand none of the family have ever teleported before. This will be a new experience for them all. Lillian steps through the portal in Omaha and stumbles out in Tokyo (the first trip is typically difficult on the destination side). There’s a strange delay that worries her, but before long, Jackson comes out in worse shape than her. But where’s Cole?

No one has an answer. Cole is missing and no one has an explanation. No one can even begin to hazard a guess about what happened.

Not at all surprisingly, Lillian and Jackson are devastated. Heartbroken. Inconsolable. And their individual reactions are so different that they can’t even be there for each other in this time.

Lillian, whose own childhood was marked by tragedy, directs her grief into work. If she can be busy, she can cope. Quickly, her energies are directed into investigating (on her own) what happened that day, and what can be done to prevent it from happening againand maybe finding a little vengeance along the way.

Jackson’s reaction is two-fold. First, he’s an alcoholic who hasn’t taken a drink in six years. He’s not in recovery in any sense, he just stopped drinking to be a father. With Cole gone, he returns to the bottleany bottle. Before taking that first drinkand after ithis question was, “My son is missing, why isn’t anyone looking for him?” For Jackson, Cole isn’t dead, he’s lost. Jackson knowshe can’t convince anyone, but he knowsthat he saw somethingsome place?in between Omaha and Tokyo. He spends his days going back and forth between the two cities, trying to find that In Between again, before crawling back into a bottle.

They haven’t just lost their son, they’ve lost each other. The love is still there. But they just don’t understand the other’s reaction. She can’t cope with his drinking or his denial. He can’t understand why she’s given up on Cole. While he hunts for Cole and she hunts for an explanation, they’re both burdened, distracted and shaped by this other pain. It is heartbreaking to watch their marriage crumbleas with the Parks thrillers, what happens to Cole is terrifying to this parent. But that feeling was frequently overshadowed by my reaction to his parent’s relationship.

Now that I’ve gone on longer than I intended to about the plot (not that I’m cutting any of it), let’s talk about the setting. This is not quite a post-apocalyptic world, but it’s one where the apocalypse could be just around the corner. Environmental changes have impacted coastal cities around the worldmany of what we know as coastal cities no longer exist. We all know that the Midwest gets hit by huge storms throughout the year, their frequency and intensity have grown. There are changes to transportation (air travel as well as the automobile changes mentioned above) in efforts to reduce pollution. New–and deadly–flu strains crop up with a regularity that makes them seem routine, and everyone knows how to react when one comes along.

There’s a lot that could be said about the government (governments?) in this future. Not that Landweber talks about politics at allbut there’s a tremendous lack of civil liberties on the one hand, and yet a very laissez-faire stance when it comes to TSI (at least as evidenced by TSI who really only seem to care about customer perception, not any kind of reulatory oversight). There’s a benevolent totalitarianism at work when it comes to the storms (and reactions to them) in Nebraska, as well as the medical response to new flu strains.

I want to stress here that these environmental and health elements are just parts of the story, and the government observations are only my impressions, and nothing I could really provide footnotes about. Landweber doesn’t take the opportunity to get on a soapbox about any of it, they’re just part of the world he’s describing. Much in the same way that someone writing a book set in 2020 would talk about current cultural trends, technologies or current events. He doesn’t indulge in any real explanation of his world-building, there are no big info dumpsit’s all just the setting.

This is an Audible Originaland I should talk about the audio aspect of this. It’s a gripping listen and wonderfully performed. As you may have guessed Brittany Pressley narrates the chapters from Lillian’s point of view, and Mark Boyett takes Jackson’s. I don’t think I’d heard anything by either of them beforebut I’ll keep my eyes peeled for their names when I browse for audiobooks in the future. They truly did wonderful jobs. They got the emotion of the moment, the tensionand occasional moments of fun, joy, or reliefas well as giving a real sense of the characters. It didn’t happen often, but even when a character usually only seen in a Lillian chapter showed up in a Jackson, you could recognize them (and vice versa)which was nice. Landweber wrote a great story but Boyett and Pressley brought it to life.

The last time I listened to an Audible Original, I had trouble with a couple of the SF-y terms usedmostly because I couldn’t be sure exactly what the narrator was saying (e.g., was that a “d” or a “b”or a “g”in the middle of that word?) It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand the narrator, they were just terms the author invented that was hard to get my head around. Landweber didn’t do any of that, which was a reliefalthough there were a couple of Japanese names I wouldn’t be able to repeat (in print or voice), but I knew what Pressley and Boyett were saying.

Another pair of books that came to mind while I was listening to this were Mike Chen’s novels. Like Chen, Landweber creates a wonderful Science Fiction world, and then tells a gripping family drama. Yes, the science fiction elements are thereand are incredibly well-executedbut the heart of this novel is about parenting, marriage, love. Fans of Chen would do well to check this book out. Fans of this book should give Chen a chance.

I read and enjoyed Landweber’s last novel, Thursday, 1:17 PM, but this is a much better showcase for his talents (not to knock his earlier work). There’s so much to commend about this Audiobook that I have only begun to scratch the surface (truly, I can think of a half-dozen characters I should’ve profiled*, a couple of themes I could have talked about, and other plotlines I should have addressed). There’s something for everyone in this bookan element of a thriller, some great SF Technology, some conspiracy elements, the environmental setting, some media commentary, some Big Business critique, a lot of focus on people with anxiety issues and/or mental health diagnosis, ethical quandaries, parent/child stories, and a touching love story, too.

* There’s a hacker character that I’m going to kick myself for not talking about, for example. He’s one of the most entertaining characters I’ve encountered this year—Top 3 for 2020.

Get this into your ears, folks, you won’t regret ityou may not like it as much as I did, but I can’t imagine you won’t like it.

Disclaimer: I received this audiobook from Audible in exchange for this post and my honest opinion. Thanks to them for the book and Laura Blackman for approaching me.


4 1/2 Stars

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