THE SURVIVALISTS

Cauley's satirical comedy about survivalists, gun dealing, and finding happiness is masterfully narrated by Bahni Turpin. Aretha, an up-and-coming attorney, falls for Aaron, a coffee dealer. When Aretha moves in with Aaron, Turpin captures her love-blind naïveté and acceptance of his survivalist friends, Brittany and James. Turpin then delivers Aretha's shock during her first gun run with the duo, her euphoria after going on later gun runs with James, her isolation when Aaron is out of town on business, and her anger when Aaron consoles Brittany after their house collapses. Aretha's life is thrown into chaos when she is fired from her job for missing a day of work. At that point, Turpin embodies a new and improved Aretha, one who looks out only for herself. S.D.B. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2023]