GWENDY'S BUTTON BOX

Listeners are introduced to 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson atop a cliffside stairway to Castle View, a park in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. There Gwendy meets Richard Farris, a strange man who knows just a little too much about her, and receives a gift that for a decade brings her good fortune and unthinkable terror. Maggie Siff narrates with touches of nostalgia, wonder, and insecurity that beautifully capture Gwendy's adolescence. Though the horror elements are effective, it's Gwendy's coming-of-age that truly resonates. Siff characterizes Farris as blandly likable but with intangible menace--listeners, like Gwendy, will be both wary and intrigued. In the bonus short story, "The Music Room," Siff's highfalutin accents perfectly complement the story's mix of black humor and wickedness. A.T.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2017]