01 May / The Infinite Future by Tim Wirkus [in Library Journal]
After a Salt Lake City reading, novelist Tim is approached in – okay, stalked to – a convenience store by Danny, a former college writing classmate. Danny has a mysterious manuscript for Tim, which has quite the provenance story involving Danny in São Paulo on a dubious grant, local librarian Sérgio, and disgraced Mormon professor-turned-translator Harriet. The trio’s quest to locate obscure sci-fi writer Eduard Salgado-MacKenzie and his potential masterpiece wends them through California, Idaho, Utah – even planets unknown.
In a rare production reveal, the full cast is named at recording’s end, including Michael Crouch as unsettled Danny, Jonathan Davis as softly accented Sérgio, Hillary Huber as no-nonsense Harriet; Phoebe Strole and Kristen Sieh crisply alternate voicing the book-within-the-book; and brief aural appearances include Sean Patrick Hopkins as Tim, with Oliver Wyman and Carol Monda in minor roles.
While numerous narrators allow for distinct personalities, transitions sometimes falter. Accuracy can be a challenge, for example in an Idaho hot tub scene, Harriet’s dialogue is voiced by both Crouch and Huber during a three-part conversation. Despite intriguing narratives, the result is an unsatisfying maelstrom more ear-numbing than enlightening.
Review: “Audio,” Library Journal, May 1, 2018
Readers: Adult
Published: 2018