by Owen Matthews ; read by Mark Bramhall ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2023
Mark Bramhall employs perfect pacing with pregnant pauses and high tension as Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin returns. This last installment of the Black Sun trilogy ends with an exploration of one of the greatest questions of the twentieth century: Who ordered the murder of John F. Kennedy? Bramhall adds a tone of authority to the story as Vasin stumbles upon possible proof of a conspiracy and races across the Soviet Union with amoral police and ruthless spies hot on his trail. Bramhall uses the tone and pitch of his voice to portray Vasin's fateful choice between going along with the party line or exposing the truth. Bramhall's portrayal adds to the heartbreaking and satisfying conclusion.
Pub Date: March 7, 2023
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781984891495
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by John Grisham ; read by Michael Beck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2026
Grisham fans will hang in there until the end, but for many, this may prove a challenging listening experience.
What happens when American couples enjoying their dream honeymoons in Paris are kidnapped? Grisham, the master of the legal thriller, delivers a complex thriller of global terrorism. While narrator Michael Beck is excellent at male characters with American accents, his female characters and his pronunciation of French place names and words are jarring. Further, listeners will need to pay close attention in order to follow the shifting points of view and the introductions of new characters and settings. Unfortunately, the writing has the emotional intensity of an after-action report. The exceptions are the brutal torture scenes, which are painful to listen to.
Grisham fans will hang in there until the end, but for many, this may prove a challenging listening experience.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 14 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593830154
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
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by Tess Gerritsen ; read by Hillary Huber ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 2026
With her talent for distinct voices, Huber will keep listeners fully engaged and entertained from beginning to end.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
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In this third addition to The Martini Club series, narrator Hillary Huber masterfully performs the returning characters plus many new players—the good and the just pretending to be good. Martini Club member and former CIA agent Ingrid Slocum is managing a conference on potential global health disasters. When one of the prominent speakers, a Russian defector, is murdered, the Martini Club members are forced to return to their spy roots, sending Ingrid and former and current colleagues on a precarious adventure. With the assistance of the local chief of police, they investigate a series of murders mysteriously tied to a botched operation from their past.
With her talent for distinct voices, Huber will keep listeners fully engaged and entertained from beginning to end.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781511354622
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
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