Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb speaks with author and illustrator Christy Mandin and narrator Elizabeth Knowelden about the new audiobook MILLIE FLEUR SAVES THE NIGHT. This enchanting story for children, where night-blooming plants come alive, reassures the residents of Garden Glen—and the listener—that the dark is nothing to be afraid of, as long as you're brave enough to turn off the lights and see what wonders are waiting. Read our review of MILLIE FLEUR SAVES THE NIGHT: Published by Scholastic Audiobooks Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   This episode is brought to you by Scholastic Audiobooks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Behind the Mic, host Jo Reed welcomes our resident horror expert, Alex Richey. Together they discuss three gripping audiobooks that are more about the spooky atmosphere than jump-scares. A catastrophic event kicks off a series of bizarre deaths in LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle, read by Mara Wilson; a woman falls into a mirrored world in HEMLOCK & SILVER, T. Kingfisher’s unique take on Snow White, read by Jennifer Pickens; and a boy who can see and speak with ghosts hides in a haunted abbey in AMONG GHOSTS by Rachel Hartman, read by Will Watt. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  LUCKY DAY: Published by Macmillan Audio HEMLOCK & SILVER: Published by Macmillan Audio AMONG GHOSTS:   Published by Listening Library Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus edition of Behind the Mic, host Jo Reed speaks with actor Courtney B. Vance. His shelves are lined with awards—two Emmys, a Tony, a Critics Choice Award, and several NAACP Image Awards. Vance is also a dedicated audiobook listener and occasional narrator, nominated for a Grammy for his performance of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s and Avis Lang’s ACCESSORY TO WAR. Vance’s latest project is a monumental one—narrating historian David Levering Lewis’s two-volume Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of W.E.B. Du Bois, available as an audiobook for the first time. But it’s a recording that might never have happened if Courtney B. Vance hadn’t picked up the phone and called the author. Read our review of W.E.B. DU BOIS 1868-1919: Biography of a Race:   Courtney B. Vance photo by Matthew Jordan Smith Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed welcomes AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester to Behind the Mic this week to discuss one memoir and two biographies which center three different writing lives: A deaf, mixed-race writer finding his voice in THE QUIET EAR by Raymond Antrobus, read by the author; a cultural biography of Octavia Butler, the groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy writer in POSITIVE OBSESSION by Susana M. Morris, read by Karen Murray; and an expansive biography of James Baldwin told through the lens of friendship and love in BALDWIN by Nicholas Boggs, read by Ron Butler. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  THE QUIET EAR: Published by Random House Audio POSITIVE OBSESSION: Published by Harper Audio BALDWIN: Published by Macmillan Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile’s Michele Cobb is joined by Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell to chat about the sixth and newest audiobook in the Shady Hollow Mystery series, MOCKINGBIRD COURT. Vulpine reporter Vera Vixen finds herself the prime suspect in what looks to be a murder. Cassandra Campbell is the voice behind all six of the Shady Hollow mysteries, and AudioFile listeners may also recognize her from her Earphones Award-winning narrations of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING and THE SCRIBE OF SIENA. Cassandra was named an AudioFile Golden Voice in 2021. Read our reviews of some of Cassandra Campbell’s work: MOCKINGBIRD COURT: Published by Random House Audio SHADY HOLLOW: Published by Random House Audio WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING: Published by Penguin Audio THE SCRIBE OF SIENA: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   This episode is brought to you by Random House Audio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile contributor Stephen Cummings is on Behind the Mic this week with host Jo Reed. This week’s theme is all about dark academia—suspenseful and often fantastical audiobooks that take place in a campus or school setting. Two graduate students descend into hell to get a recommendation from their professor in KATABASIS by R.F. Kuang, read by Morag Sims and Will Watt; affairs are revealed in a creative writing thesis in SEDUCTION THEORY by Emily Adrian, read by Jennifer Pickens; and a teacher at a magical school needs help wrangling demons in THE INCANDESCENT by Emily Tesh, read by Zara Ramm. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  KATABASIS: Published by Harper Audio SEDUCTION THEORY: Published by Hachette Audio THE INCANDESCENT: Published by Macmillan Audio.  Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British narrator David Timson has recorded numerous audiobooks for Naxos AudioBooks, including the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, five Charles Dickens novels, and a complete unabridged reading of Edward Gibbon’s DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. During his time working with Naxos as actor, director, and writer, David has also directed five of the successful audio series of Shakespeare’s plays. In 2002 he won the Audiobook of the Year Award for his reading of A STUDY IN SCARLET. David Timson sits down with AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb to discuss narrating classic crime novels and Golden Age mysteries, including works by Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles) such as MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, THE PICCADILLY MURDER, and TRIAL AND ERROR, and giving voice to the extensive Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin canons.  Read our reviews of some of David Timson’s work: DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: Published by Naxos Audiobooks MALICE AFORETHOUGHT: Published by Naxos Audiobooks THE PICCADILLY MURDER: Published by Naxos Audiobooks TRIAL AND ERROR: Published by Naxos Audiobooks Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb is on Behind the Mic this week with host Jo Reed. Together they dig into three True Crime audiobooks that tell haunting stories and that take place in three distinct institutions. THE FORT BRAGG CARTEL by Seth Harp, read by Dan John Miller, is a frightening tale of murders and drug trafficking at a military base; THE SLEEP ROOM by Jon Stock, read by Richard Armitage, Celia Imrie, and Antonia Beamish, is a revelation of the disturbing practices of Dr. William Sargant on his mostly female patients; and THE IDAHO FOUR by James Patterson and Vicky Ward, read by Elisabeth Rodgers, is an investigation of the infamous murders of four university students in 2022. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  THE FORT BRAGG CARTEL: Published by Penguin Audio THE SLEEP ROOM: Published by Tantor Media THE IDAHO FOUR: Published by Hachette Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile Editor and Founder Robin Whitten joins host Jo Reed this week to discuss three gripping new mystery audiobooks that share a dark wit and anti-establishment protagonists. Martin Cruz Smith’s HOTEL UKRAINE, narrated by Jeremy Bobb, is a compact suspense about Detective Arkady Renko and the early days of the invasion of Ukraine; CLOWN TOWN by Mick Herron is the ninth installment of the popular Slough House series, read by Golden Voice Gerard Doyle; and THE HALLMARKED MAN by Robert Galbraith is a lengthy but memorable 8th mystery in the Comoran Strike series, read by Robert Glenister. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  HOTEL UKRAINE: Published by Hachette Audio CLOWN TOWN: Published by Recorded Books THE HALLMARKED MAN: Published by Hachette Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile awards Earphones to exceptional audio experiences—it’s our version of a starred review, specifically for the audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Laura Rossi discuss three recent Earphones Award-winning audiobooks that delve deeply into the human experience. Laura and Jo discuss the controversial, posthumously published NOTES TO JOHN by Joan Didion, read by Julianne Moore; CRY FOR ME, ARGENTINA: My Life As a Failed Child Star by comedian Tamara Yajia, read by Tamara Yajia; and the highly anticipated memoir by Jen Hatmaker, AWAKE, read by the author. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  NOTES TO JOHN: Published by Random House Audio CRY FOR ME, ARGENTINA:   Published by Bloomsbury Publishing AWAKE: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Leslie Fine review three new audiobooks that harbor family secrets and feature excellent character development. A woman grapples with her roles as wife, mother, and more in SAME AS IT EVER WAS by Claire Lombardo, read by Emily Rankin; a father and daughter are living off the grid in WHAT KIND OF PARADISE by Janelle Brown, read by Peter Ganim and Helen Laser; and a quiet English farm is disturbed by a murder mystery in BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall, read by Hattie Morahan. SAME AS IT EVER WAS: Published by Random House Audio WHAT KIND OF PARADISE:   Published by Random House Audio BROKEN COUNTRY: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Alan Minskoff review three new audiobooks, both fiction and nonfiction, that revolve around diverse types of turbulence a family might encounter: The tragic American family saga of THE SPINACH KING by John Seabrook, read by Dion Graham; ON ISABELLA STREET, a historical novel set in a pre- and post-Vietnam War Toronto, by Genevieve Graham, read by Liz Leafloor and Erin Moon; and SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter, read by Edoardo Ballerini, a satirical novel on the rise of religious fundamentalist militias. THE SPINACH KING: Published by HighBridge Audio ON ISABELLA STREET:   Published by Simon & Schuster Audio SO FAR GONE: Published by Harper Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed welcomes AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester to chat about three new sci-fi/fantasy audiobook gems: MODERATION, written and read by Elaine Castillo, a cautionary tale that dives into tech, class, and immigration; SUNBIRTH by An Yu, a character-driven story in which slices of the sun start disappearing, read by Mei Mei Macleod; and a historical horror-romance with elements of fantasy, THE POSSESSION OF ALBA DÍAZ by Isabel Cañas, read by Carolina Hoyos and Anthony Rey Perez. MODERATION: Published by Penguin Audio SUNBIRTH: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio THE POSSESSION OF ALBA DÍAZ:   Published by Penguin Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed welcomes AudioFile contributor Alex Richey. Together, they’ll chat all about vampires, monsters, and witches in three sci-fi/fantasy/horror audiobooks: BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL, a multiple-POV sapphic vampire story by V.E. Schwab, read by Julia Whelan, Katie Leung, and Marisa Calin; the “bonkers” genre-bending OF MONSTERS AND MAINFRAMES by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite, and Gail Shalan; and a multi-generational horror story by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, THE BEWITCHING, read by Gisela Chípe. BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL: Published by Macmillan Audio OF MONSTERS AND MAINFRAMES: Published by Dreamscape THE BEWITCHING: Published by Random House Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website  Today’s episode is brought to you by Hachette Audio and the audiobook Kiss Her Goodbye, the newest Lisa Gardner thriller, read by Hillary Huber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Stephen Cummings discuss three audiobook biographies in which the New York City of the 1970s and ’80s plays a key role. This week, they’ll highlight LORNE by Susan Morrison, read by Kristen DiMercurio and the author, about the Saturday Night Live creator; YOKO by David Sheff, read by Max Meyers, an intimate look at the avant-garde artist; and I REGRET ALMOST EVERYTHING by Keith McNally and read by Richard E. Grant, a highly enjoyable listen about the legendary restaurateur. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  LORNE by Susan Morrison, read by Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison Published by Random House Audio YOKO by David Sheff, read by Max Meyers Published by Simon & Schuster Audio I REGRET ALMOST EVERYTHING by Keith McNally, read by Richard E. Grant Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Today’s episode is brought to you by Hachette Audio and the audiobook Kiss Her Goodbye, the newest Lisa Gardner thriller, read by Hillary Huber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss three audiobooks that have two or more narrators in the cast. Together they’ll speak about: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s queer love story set in the 1980s space race, ATMOSPHERE read by Julia Whelan and Kristen DiMercurio. A thriller complete with kidnappings and a mysterious house in THE OTHER PEOPLE by C.B. Everett, read by Heather Long and Kaffe Keating. Finally, FAR AND AWAY a Dallas-to-Berlin house-swap family drama written by Amy Poeppel, and read by Patti Murin, Lisa Flanagan, Jennifer Jill Araya, Kevin R. Free, and Pete Simonelli. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  ATMOSPHERE: Published by Random House THE OTHER PEOPLE: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio FAR AND AWAY: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at Audiofile Magazine   Today’s episode is brought to you by Hachette Audio and the audiobook Kiss Her Goodbye, the newest Lisa Gardner thriller, read by Hillary Huber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, producer, filmmaker, podcaster, and the bestselling author of some twenty books both fiction and nonfiction, including THE SHOEMAKER’S WIFE, the BIG STONE GAP series, and LUCIA, LUCIA. Adriana’s latest book is THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO, narrated by Academy Award-winner Mira Sorvino. As with all of her titles, THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO is filled with complex characters with complicated and deeply felt family relationships. In this episode, host Jo Reed and Adriana Trigiani talk about her work, swoon-worthy audiobooks, and Mira Sorvino’s great talent.  Read our review of THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO, published by Penguin Audio. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for Behind the Mic comes from Hachette Audio, publisher of the audiobook edition of KISS HER GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner, read by Hillary Huber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile awards Earphones to exceptional audio experiences—it’s our version of a starred review, specifically for the audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Laura Rossi discuss three recent Earphones Award-winning audiobooks. Laura and Jo highlight WHALE EYES: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen written and read by documentarian James Robinson; WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE, Mary Alice Monroe’s novel set in the South Carolina Low Country and performed by Cassandra Campbell and Jenna Lamia along with the author; and NEVER FLINCH, Stephen King’s crime thriller, read by Jessie Mueller. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  WHALE EYES Published by Listening Library WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE Published by Harper Audio NEVER FLINCH Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for Behind the Mic comes from Hachette Audio, publisher of the audiobook edition of KISS HER GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner, read by Hillary Huber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile’s Michele Cobb is joined by author Cadwell Turnbull and Golden Voice narrator Dion Graham to talk about TRANSMENTATION | TRANSIENCE, the first installment in a sprawling and ambitious multiverse filled with adventure and political intrigue. Graham’s intense yet soft-spoken presentation of the narrative sets the background for the dialogue, which he delivers with a masterful use of tone, inflection, volume, and accents. Listen as they discuss moments that influenced Graham’s narration process, Turnbull’s vision on the ultimate sound and feeling of the audiobook, and what it’s like to be one of five authors in a trenchcoat. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Blackstone Publishing. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website Today’s episode is sponsored by Blackstone Publishing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile’s Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss this gripping audiobook. Colter Shaw—tracker and survivalist—is hired to locate a missing family trapped after a levee collapses during a catastrophic storm. As he searches, Shaw uncovers a sinister plot that suggests the disaster may not have been entirely natural. Narrator Kaleo Griffith delivers a masterful performance, giving each character a distinct and memorable voice. With layered characters brought to life with escalating tension and outstanding narration, this latest installment in the series is a taut thriller that showcases Jeffery Deaver's storytelling and Griffith's exceptional vocal range.  Read our review of the audiobook at our website Published by Harper Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for Behind the Mic comes from Hachette Audio and NIGHT WATCHER, by Daphne Woolsoncroft (of the Going West podcast), who read an audio-exclusive author's note before the stunning dual-narration by Will Collyer and Helen Laser. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices