THE WINTER STATION

A gifted narrator can often salvage a mediocre text, but given a finely written novel, as Simon Vance has here, the result is a showcase of the unique pleasures and sublime artistry of audiobook listening. Set in one of the most remote corners of the world, Shields's medical thriller is based on an outbreak of bubonic plague in Manchuria in 1910. The voices and accents are diverse, and Vance is a master at rendering character and at maintaining narrative pace and momentum. Most outstanding, however, are the eloquent descriptions of the bleak Eastern landscape and the ragtag communities clustered around the Trans-Siberian Railway. While the narrative is chilling and gripping, Shields's prose is incandescent, and her narrator is one of the most gifted and accomplished working today. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2018]