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So what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? As Lisa Randall tells us, narrator Carrington MacDuffie provides a straightforward narration, which is all this book requires. Such is the case with most fact-based nonfiction audiobooks. The author posits that the gravitational influences of dark matter had a role in pushing a large rocky body, probably a comet, into a collision... Read More

Working in close quarters for the helicopter firefighting squad of Mount Hood Aviation, mechanic Denise and pilot Vern create heat of their own. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie fluidly conveys technical information about helicopters and their repair in a way that manages to engage listeners. She reads at a brisk clip, yet the story never seems rushed. And she's especially skilled... Read More

This detailed account of Sonia Sotomayor's journey to the highest judicial appointment in the land is judiciously narrated in a style that also mirrors the candor of this hardworking Puerto Rican judge from the Bronx. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie employs assertive fervor in her tone, especially when describing Sotomayor's personality. She's the life of the party in one... Read More

Narrator Carrington MacDuffie navigates the humor and high-stakes intrigue of this first Highland Heirs romance. Edmund MacGregor would do anything to save his adopted homeland from English rule, even kidnap the fiancée of the Chancellor of Scotland. Edmund’s resentment and determination are clear from the first volatile scene of this story, and the growing bond between him and... Read More

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell would feel comfortable unleashing her inner demons only in a format like this: Her longtime friend and colleague Malka Marom—who met Mitchell for the first time in 1966—conducts a course of interviews over several years, serving more as Mitchell’s confidante than interlocutor. At times, the women come off like a chatty coffee klatch, freely... Read More

This full-cast recording is the perfect production for Alice Hoffman’s linked stories of life on a two-hundred-year-old Cape Cod farm. The stories farthest removed from us in time are the most magical in genre, though in almost all, blood red pears, red shoes, and/or a white blackbird make an appearance. Hoffman leans heavily on repetition of these tropes and on certain... Read More

Shepherding children in the new digital world is complex and challenging. Hofmann provides a range of ideas, approaches, and protocols to help parents and children find what’s right, safe, and smart. Carrington MacDuffie narrates this book well, using tone and emphasis to convey Hofmann’s purpose: to elicit family conversations, not deliver commandments. MacDuffie captures the... Read More

The implosion of Lance Armstrong’s career was swift and complete, and author Juliet Macur watched it all unfold from the front row. Her marvelous journalism gets a performance-enhancing boost from narrator Carrington MacDuffie, whose straightforward delivery is a perfect fit. Macur, a reporter with the New York Times, not only had access to Armstrong himself during her research... Read More

Carrington MacDuffie’s rich voice is a perfect match for Quindlen’s exquisite story about 60-year-old Rebecca Winter, a once famous photographer who moves to a remote country cottage, hoping to find herself. MacDuffie captures Rebecca’s melancholy at leaving her decadent New York City lifestyle behind, her strength as she discovers how being alone can heal, and her dry humor as... Read More

Alternating between modern-day siblings who are locked in rivalry well into adulthood and the hunt for sacred texts a century ago, this novel offers many rich layers of history. Dara Horn has created a remarkably interwoven tale, which shifts between the past and present, as well between continents and religious points of view. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie capably handles the... Read More

This latest Barbara Holloway mystery is about an open-and-shut case against Travis Morgan, who walked into his father's house and shot the man at his desk, his father’s bookkeeper, in front of two witnesses. However, Travis swears he’s innocent, and Barbara, a criminal attorney, believes him. Carrington MacDuffie gives a terrific performance, especially in portraying Barbara.... Read More

After a serious brain injury in Afghanistan, war correspondent Hannah Manning is staying with her sister's family in Ontario to recuperate. Because bright lights bring on blackouts, she sometimes retreats to an old root cellar, where she smells death and hears an old-fashioned sounding woman speaking with an unusual lilt. Is she hallucinating or in a time warp? Narrator... Read More

In this poignant story about second chances, Cassie Carmichael comes back to South Dakota to ready her family’s run-down ranch for sale after the death of her father. Instead, she finds herself giving sanctuary to animals and people who need rescuing and, in the process, finds herself. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie keeps listeners wrapped up in the story and its characters. She... Read More

From childhood through young adulthood, Ida and Jackson—“I” and “J”—have been together, first as virtual siblings, then as lovers. They’ve been through the deaths of their parents, in addition to the common wounds of growing up. However, even with all of the attendant drama, this novel lacks a compelling central narrative. Carrington MacDuffie does an admirable job of... Read More

Poet Lucia Perillo demonstrates a talent for the short story in this debut collection of 14 stories, set in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Her poetic background is demonstrated in her lyrical prose. The stories’ settings are spartan trailer parks and low-rent homes; the characters are working-class females who face the world on their own terms, stuck in their lives and... Read More

Despite his intimate connection to the “Beat Generation,” there was far more to Jack Kerouac. Johnson reveals the many sides of Kerouac in a way that allows even those who’ve never even heard of the man to appreciate his many talents. With Carrington MacDuffie at the mic, this biography soars. Johnson’s work is filled with insights into how Kerouac grew and morphed into the... Read More

Since the late 1950s, the brash and beautiful Honey West has had a healthy cult following in novels, comics, and television. Now the alluring detective has been adapted to audio, and she’s found the perfect narrator. Carrington MacDuffie brings all the vocal sass, humor, and smarts needed to break a tough case wide open. In this first episode Honey goes undercover in Hollywood,... Read More

Donna Johnson grew up in the 1960s as part of a traveling Pentecostal revival group led by Brother David Terrell, a young, zealous preacher who was married with a daughter but involved in a long (and surely sinful) affair with Johnson’s mother. Carrington MacDuffie is at her finest in Holy Roller preacher mode, praying, shouting, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, and... Read More

Narrator Carrington MacDuffie captures the escalating tension between Abigail and Cade, who are thrown together in a California beach town after the death of Eliza Carpenter, who was Abigail’s mentor and Cade’s aunt. MacDuffie’s accent and range of inflections successfully evoke Abigail, a former city dweller, as well as many of the town’s residents. However, in the portrayal... Read More

Carrington MacDuffie's performance and this story start out in the same fashion—a little slow and stiff—but both warm up apace. Former NYPD detective Tony Mauricio, retired after being badly injured on the job, is new to Silver Bay, Oregon. He quickly befriends a local family composed of Marnie, a widowed shop-owner; Stef, her artist daughter; and Van, her granddaughter, a... Read More

Kate and Mary Romero live in present-day El Paso, but their father, a minister, has isolated them from modern temptations, including the Internet. When he dies unexpectedly, the teenagers are left alone to cope with the outside world; take care of their mother, who is in a persistent vegetative state; and decide on their futures. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie's expressive... Read More

Review pending. 2012 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine... Read More

As the title suggests, David Margolick's intriguing chronicle gives dimension to two women, one black and one white. Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Massery were the teenagers whose 1957 photo came to symbolize the emotionally charged Civil Rights struggle for school integration. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie demonstrates her award-winning style in a performance that is as clear... Read More

Entry into this audio is a bit bewildering as Julie Otsuka’s novel uses a first-person-plural point of view to meld the collective stories of Japanese mail-order brides at the turn of the twentieth century. Narrator Samantha Quan quickly dispels the confusion as she delivers the story with a rhythmic cadence. Each “we” introduces the listener to a new chorus of emotions and... Read More

One would not expect soldiers of the realm to slaughter nuns in monastery after monastery. When the soldiers attack St. Christopher’s Abbey, Highlander Scott Robert MacGregor comes to the rescue. He soon finds out that one of the abbey’s inhabitants is no ordinary nun. Carrington MacDuffie turns this classic bodice-ripper into a delightful romp through the British Isles,... Read More