Great Narration, Ok Story

I had reviewed Native Tongue a while back for the blog, so when the author asked if we might like to have a copy of the series on audio I was certainly intrigued. I remember one of my biggest problems when I read Native Tongue was that I had not read Desert Heat, and felt like I had missed out on some of the chemistry between the two characters because of it. With this audio book, where both books are together as a set, I was able to experience their whole story and get a better feel for both the books and the characters.

The first thing I have to say about this audiobook is that Joel Leslie, the narrator, was fantastic. I loved his voice so much. The growliness of Wilkes’ voice was a perfect complement to Balkhi’s more lilting style. I could easily distinguish between all the characters when he was talking, and even Wilkes’ voice was distinguishable from the plain narration which made knowing when Wilkes was talking pretty easy. My only problem with it is that Wilkes sounded a lot older than I would have pegged him for. This is probably a result of the regional accent that the narrator used, but it kinda threw me the first time I heard it.

For the most part I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The way I listened to it, in short 20-30 minutes sessions (while doing dishes, mostly) kinda threw off the pacing a bit in my head, but that can’t really be blamed on the book. And the sex scenes were damn delicious in this narrator’s voice. While the story itself doesn’t have much conflict (and as a result can get a bit flat) with Joel Leslie whispering in my ear I can’t deny that I would happily listen to it all over again. Leslie does a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life and as a result helps give this book that bit of oomph that is sorely needed. I liked the story, don’t get me wrong. But without much conflict, there isn’t really a lot to keep you coming back desperately needing to know more. The narration definitely serves that purpose in this audio format, though.