EVERY SECRET THING

Beth Gunner returns to her high school alma mater as a 40-year-old English teacher. As she reconnects with two friends from the gang she ran with, she determines to discover the truth about the cover-up of a favorite teacher's suicide just weeks before graduation. She also reaches out to a talented but troubled student who reminds her of her younger self. Linda Stephens's narration is as dull and lifeless as the story itself. Her attempts to give unique voices to the various characters fail as she often mixes them up so that the listener becomes uncertain about exactly who's talking. The story is clichéd, predictable, and emotionally dead, and Stephens's delivery does nothing to breathe life into it. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2008]