WAR HORSE

John Keating establishes a convincing narrator with his portrayal of Joey, an English farm horse. Keating delivers this story’s differing points of view, making it easy to distinguish between the equine observer and the humans in his world. All too soon, Joey leaves his loving farm boy, Albert, to soldier through the horrors of WWI. Like the classic horse hero Black Beauty, Joey has a string of human owners. Keating characterizes each with credible emotions, accents, and age qualities. Through his portrayals, listeners understand the uniqueness of Joey’s masters, whether Welsh or German. Hearing their distinctly different stories and voices enables listeners to see the humans’ commonality. Each one hates war and bears love and admiration for the courage of this noble steed. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]