THE FASCINATORS

Narrator Michael Crouch takes on the drama of an amateur magic club facing off against a power-hungry cult. Set in a world in which everyone has magical abilities but only some people choose to use them, this YA novel follows twelfth-grader Sam and his best friends, Delia and James, who are the lone magickers at their small-town Georgia school. Their preparations for one last magic convention are disrupted by new arrivals, romantic entanglements, and betrayal--not to mention a deadly scheme hatched by a group of fanatical magickers. Crouch's narration, as deft as ever, uses pitch, inflection, and judiciously deployed Southern accents to balance quiet characterizations with compelling pacing. Overall, it's a skillful, accessible performance with solid appeal for young fans of fantasy. R.A.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2020]