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Set in Canada and structured as a series of recorded therapy sessions, NEVER KNOWING questions the meaning of family and blood relations. Carrington MacDuffie’s narration sounds less like a reading of a novel and more like a story told by an older woman remembering her youth. Sara Gallagher discovers that her biological father is a famous serial killer and must confront his... Read More

In Wilhelm’s twelfth Barbara Holloway novel, the Eugene, Oregon, defense attorney whose previous trial maneuvers have galvanized listeners tries for a low profile. She’s just helping out her neighbors by working to prevent a deportation. But, despite her best efforts, the compelling case overtakes her, bringing her to the jungles of Belize. Carrington MacDuffie effortlessly... Read More

"I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her," Ernest Hemingway wrote of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. This remarkable audiobook imaginatively recreates Hemingway’s world as seen through Hadley’s eyes. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie portrays this ardent yet grounded woman well, capturing her departure from ordinary life as she falls headlong in love with “Nesto.”... Read More

Tallman’s series features Sarah Woolson, a nineteenth-century San Francisco attorney who defends the downtrodden and oppressed when no one else will take their cases. In this fourth installment, the primary story concerns several inexplicable murders for which Sarah’s clients, Chinese immigrants, are being blamed. Carrington MacDuffie’s portrayal of Sarah is commanding yet... Read More

This second book in the Century Quartet reunites four children from four cities—Harvey from New York City, Mistral from Paris, Sheng from Shanghai, and Elettra from Rome—in New York on their quest to find the Star of Stone. Carrington MacDuffie gives the four children distinctive, youthful voices with subtle accents that reflect their native lands. Her timing is perfect for... Read More

An early childhood memory of an ice cave leads the writer into short stories from her everyday life. Unable to give depth to her characters or even describe them, she relies on clichés and descriptions of her emotional states. Reading with a more lighthearted spirit than the author, Carrington MacDuffie adds the missing spark to the production. She employs her engaging... Read More

Though a bit dated and certainly not one of Le Guin’s most impressive works, this book is performed quite well, with Stephen Hoye and Carrington MacDuffie switching off as dual narrators. As two humanoid races prepared for a harsh winter in an unforgiving environment, they must overcome their prejudice toward each other in order to protect themselves from another race that has... Read More

In this sprawling family saga, author Daniel Klein explores the impact of cause and effect as he traces the history of the deVries, of Massachusetts. The threads of seemingly unconnected lives and events are woven into a story as complex as it is captivating. In particular, the plot involves Wendell deVries, a small-town movie projectionist, his daughter, and his granddaughter.... Read More

When four 12-year-olds—one from Shanghai, one from New York, one from Paris, and one the hotelier's daughter—unexpectedly find themselves sharing a hotel room in Rome, adventure is bound to ensue. On this December 29, as the friends set off in a blacked-out city, an unusual man gives them custody of his briefcase a short time before his death. The contents of the briefcase lead... Read More

Appropriately, characters throughout this story collection all experience some sort of fall: One falls out of love after discovering his wife's secret past; another falls out of favor with his grandchildren for his traditionalist ways; a third fears a fall from his academic goals. No matter the changes within them, each story is interesting and well narrated. Set largely in a... Read More

CIA Special Agent Holly Baker has been ordered to take a vacation, so off she goes to her house in Orchid Beach, Florida, where she immediately becomes involved in a case of serial rape and murder. Carrington MacDuffie delivers a good performance—Holly's voice is appropriately light, and the masculine voices are excellent. However, the glib, mundane dialogue combined with... Read More

The three novellas in this production depict vastly different landscapes of the human heart. BROWN DOG, narrated by Ray Porter, follows a scavenging diver and his entangled loves. Porter is eminently believable as the tough, hard-drinking B.D., whose strong timbre is filled with intensity as his discovers the preserved body of an Indian chief in the depths of Lake Superior.... Read More

Three-time Nebula Award winner Kate Wilhelm creates an unsettling account of a family of four children who are trying to stay together under devastating circumstances. After their father is killed in an accident, their emotionally distraught and reclusive mother burdens them with an impossible promise. When their mother dies shortly afterward, the children try to abide by their... Read More

A sleepy town snuggled in the Kootenay Mountains of British Columbia, Trafalgar is an open-minded place, home to former hippies, young transients, and a fancy new resort. It's also the home of young Constable Molly Smith, who is delicately portrayed by narrator Carrington MacDuffie as reeling from the recent death of her fiancé and trying to build a new life in law enforcement.... Read More

Saddled with an untreated pituitary gland abnormality, Truly is a giant of a girl. Shunned by the townsfolk of Aberdeen, New York, she finds alternative homes with the hopeless Dyerson family and, later, with her dastardly brother-in-law, Dr. Robert Morgan. Carrington MacDuffie blesses Truly with a sweet, lilting voice, a quality replicated in several characters. She struggles... Read More

Opening with the violent murder of Oliver Mercer, venture capitalist, CUT TO THE QUICK weaves the police investigation with a cold case involving the attempted murder of Pasadena Homicide Detective Nanette Vining. Carrington MacDuffie's melodious voice is perfect for Vining as she manipulates suspects and witnesses while seeking murderers and psychopaths. As Vining and her... Read More

Troubled anthropologist Joan Severance, daughter of a Sicilian photographer and an American archaeologist, returns to Sicily to study in the archives of Valaparuta when her academic career in the U.S. self-destructs. Carrington MacDuffie artfully portrays the antagonistic Joan and a cast of enigmatic Sicilians, with their secrets of the BENANDANTI, an ancient cult that battles... Read More

Carrington MacDuffie makes us believe in the resilience and toughness of Mazzy as we see her fend off the social worker who is investigating reports about her home. MacDuffie also shows us Mazzy's tender, anxious side as the teenager worries about running a home in which her mother spends the day in bed in a fetal position while her father's off finding fame as a sportscaster.... Read More

Fans of Nan Vining will rejoice in the Pasadena detective's return in the conclusion of Emley’s trilogy. Vining is now hunting down T.B. Mann ("The Bad Mann"), a psychotic serial killer who left her for dead earlier in the series and is now engaging her in a bloody game of cat-and-mouse. Carrington MacDuffie's resonant voice enhances this crisp narrative. However, her... Read More

Five years after the death of Georgia, founder of the Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs revisits the surviving members as they move on with their lives. This story just doesn't work. Georgia was the most well-drawn character in the first book, and without her this sequel has no life. This weakness bogs down narrator Carrington MacDuffie—it’s not her fault that her voice... Read More

Stuart Woods is such a prolific author that it's tough to keep up. Here’s another winner. MOUNTING FEARS follows President Will Lee and his CIA director wife, Kate Rule, as they deal with threats at home and on foreign soil. Woods veteran Carrington MacDuffie once again proves to be the perfect choice to perform the novel. MacDuffie is as unflappable as the president she... Read More

Ellie's life is changed when her sister, Lila, is murdered, and Thorpe, a professor in whom she confides, writes a book about the murder. Twenty years later, Ellie meets the man who was identified in the book as the murderer, and she sets out in search of the truth. Carrington MacDuffie reflects the character of Ellie as she ages and matures, transitioning smoothly from Ellie’s... Read More

A two-year sailing trip for John and Jean Silverwood and their four children ends when they crash into a coral reef in the Pacific Ocean and are stranded. They have survived pirates, storms, and family arguments. Ironically, their boat's destruction brings them closer. Carrington MacDuffie expresses Jean’s excitement at global scenic spots, her pride in son Ben's growing... Read More

All Prudence Whistler, a 30-something spinster, wants is a caring husband, kids, and her own dress shop. What she gets are her younger sister, who is an unmarried mother, and a retinue of disturbed family and friends. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie inhabits Pru with gusto and heartache. The comparison to Jane Austen's SENSE AND SENSIBILITY is inevitable: Pru is the sensible... Read More

The French Revolution provides the backdrop for this story of gypsies, demented aristocrats, intrigue, and murder. Yann, orphaned at a young age, has been raised by a kindly dwarf and works with a traveling troupe of magicians. The murder of the group's leader by the sinister Count Kalliovski provides the catalyst for Yann's further adventures. Though improbable coincidences... Read More