ALL SYSTEMS RED Murderbot Diaries, Book 1

The creature telling this story, a security unit tasked with protecting a planetary survey team, calls itself “Murderbot.” It’s depressed and withdrawn, and Kevin R. Free performs the character perfectly, giving its voice languid tones and a slow-speaking pace, layered with an unsettling tension that hints at dangerous rage. There are similar subtle notes in the other characters' voices. In this short work we don’t get to know many of the team well, but Free provides each of them with as much individuality as the text allows. His pacing varies nicely as the plot thickens, and listeners will be left eager to hear what’s next in the android’s adventures. D.L.Y. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2018]