THE FIRST TO DIE AT THE END

Jason Genao, Anthony Keyvan, and Kyla Garcia narrate this prequel to the three-hankie weeper THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END. Death-Cast is a company that predicts when its subscribers have only 24 hours left to live. Valentino has left Arizona and his homophobic parents to start a new life. Orion, orphaned on 9/11 and living with a weak heart, knows that any day could be his last. Meeting in Times Square, they learn one of them will soon die, a situation that propels their romance. Garcia fluidly narrates the side plots. Genao, as a yearning Orion, and Keyvan, as a rather bland Valentino, never break character, but frequent exchanges of unattributed dialogue are difficult for listeners to follow. Ultimately, the story lacks its predecessor's novelty and magic. V.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2022]