October 2022 Earphones Award Winners

J.D Robb's latest futuristic thriller finds Eve Dallas hunting for the people who kidnap young girls, train them as consorts for men, and auction them to the highest bidder. Narrator Susan Ericksen's performance vibrates with energy as she portrays old and new characters in this series. Mina and Dorian are victims of the crime ring: one's dead, one's missing. Ericksen's... Read More

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini masterfully voices American and Japanese men and women in this WWII mystery, which begins in Hawaii with a brutal murder just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. While most Westerners are fleeing from Asia, Honolulu detective Joe McGrady travels to Hong Kong in pursuit of a potential serial killer. What begins as a police procedural turns into a war... Read More

Buchanan's debut novel unfolds like a symphony as it examines the impact of trauma on five generations of women. Five talented narrators breathe life into these complicated survivors. Elizabeth Wiley, as Lise, the matriarch, has an immigrant's accent as she reveals her traumatic truth to her adult daughter, Anna, through a letter that weaves through the stories of her... Read More

Singer-songwiter Amanda Held Opelt gives a somber yet lyrical portrayal of her own journey through grief, equipping listeners with some excellent tools to face life's challenges. Opelt discusses rituals marking death across a variety of cultures, such as the Irish tradition of keening and the Jewish observance of sitting Shiva; the practice of wearing dark clothing, thereby... Read More

With compassion, hard-earned insights, and touches of humor, therapist KC Davis offers relief to the overwhelmed. Her voice is warm and understanding; whether listeners are struggling with the pandemic's aftermath or depression, Davis offers supportive ways to care for the home--and the self. With exhausted listeners in mind, Davis keeps chapters short and maintains a pace that... Read More

This audiobook, narrated by the author and 11 others, offers a cornucopia of Boyle's vivid imaginings. Among the many short fictions worth listening to and cogitating on, the dark fantasy "Hyena," set in France, is delivered memorably by David de Vries, whose deliberate pace suits this horrific tale. "The Apartment," with its sustained irony, is given just the right tone and... Read More

Narrator Casey Jones tenderly delivers this slow-burn queer romance about a prince who can detect the composition of metals by touch. After an altercation with the father of the queen's new daughter, Prince Kadou is humiliated. To restore his reputation and prove himself useful, he investigates a nearby break-in with his newly appointed bodyguard, the stoic and handsome... Read More

Henry Leyva's energetic, no-nonsense style is a natural fit for the cutting-edge science and rising action in this mystery. Logan Ramsay is a genetic scientist whose mother, also a brilliant geneticist, was responsible for a global catastrophe after altering the genetic makeup of rice. Now Ramsay works for the government monitoring agency that guards against rogue genetic... Read More