No mystery behind acclaim for KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT- on audio today

July 19th, 2011 by Jeff · Author/Narrator News, Hear It Here First

Critics have been unanimous in their praise for Killed at the Whim of a Hat, Colin Cotterill’s forthcoming novel and “What may be the best new international mystery series since the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” (Booklist) And starting today, you can listen to this surefire bestseller in the format that everyone from the Guardian to Elle Girl has been raving about lately: audiobook!

Killed at the Whim of a Hat, the first in a planned series from Cotterill, follows Jimm, a Thai crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family. When she is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she’s convinced her career—maybe her life—is over. So when a van containing the old, skeletal remains of two hippies is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered.

Suddenly Jimm’s new life becomes somewhat more promising—and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm is to unravel the inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family.

Killed at the Whim of a Hat has been receiving some amazing prerelease press, recieving starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Library Journal writes, “This outstanding series debut from the author of the Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteries (Love Songs from a Shallow Grave) would appeal to crossover readers who enjoy well-developed ensemble casts and a sense of the absurd. It’s not just about Thailand; Cotterill understands people and writes subtle humor like a master.”

And Publishers Weekly writes, “Cotterill’s excellent first in a new series . . . combines a wry narrative voice with an appealing picture of a world unfamiliar to most Americans.”

Killed at the Whim of a Hat is scheduled to be reviewed by Janet Maslin in the New York Times on Thursday, July 21st, and Marilyn Stasio has reviewed it for the July 24th edition of the New York Times Book Review, calling it “beguiling.”

Colin Cotterill (photo credit Roy Hamric)

Cotterill is an established master of mytery, and this new series secures his place as the foremost write

Narrator Jeany Park

r of “complex and preceptive, intelligent exotica.” (the Guardian) And theater actress Jeany Park is a perfect match as our audiobook’s narrator, seamlessly transitioning from humor to murder as Jimm delves deeper into the case. Whether your interested in exotic locales, crazy families, or just some good ol’ fashioned murder mystery, Killed at the Whim of a Hat can’t be missed!

 

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New video from “The Hobbit” set

July 14th, 2011 by Julie · HighBridge at the Movies

The first block of filming for the two Hobbit films has wrapped in New Zealand, and director Peter Jackson has released another production video.

Fun facts from the video:
Andy Serkis, who performed the voice and movement for Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films, is the second-unit director for The Hobbit.

And it was great to see that John Howe is part of the location scouting team for the next part of filming. Howe is the artist who created the illustrations we used on our packaging for our audio editions of  The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, as well as an original painting he made for our set combining The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit.

It’s a long wait till December of 2012!

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Paul Farmer on NPR to discuss ‘Haiti After the Earthquake’; Meryl Streep, Edoardo Ballerini, Edwidge Danticat, Eric Conger, and others narrate audiobook

July 14th, 2011 by Jeff · Author/Narrator News, Hear It Here First

Dr. Paul Farmer, the renowned physician and anthropologist and the founding director of Partners in Health, talked with NPR Tuesday about his newest book, Haiti After the Earthquake. Tuesday marked the eighteen-month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. A recording of the NPR session can be found here.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people and causing widespread destruction. After the quake, 1.5 million people were left homeless. Today, as many as 800,000 people are still living in makeshift encampments, where security is lax and waterborne diseases like cholera have proliferated.

“It [was the] first big recrudescence of cholera in the Americas since the end of an epidemic that really swept through Peru and ended in 1993,” says Dr. Farmer. “If any country was a mine-shaft canary for the reintroduction of cholera, it was Haiti — and we knew it. And in retrospect, more should have been done to prepare for cholera … which can spread like wildfire in Haiti. … This was a big rebuke to all of us working in public health and health care in Haiti.”

Dr. Farmer’s organization, Partners in Health,  provides medical services to the poor in many countries, including Haiti. He returned to Haiti on Jan. 15, 2010, along with a cadre of volunteers, to help with the recovery and relief efforts. In his new book Haiti After The Earthquake, Farmer details what it was like on the ground in the days after the earthquake — and why the country is still struggling to recover. You can stay up to date with Dr. Farmer’s readings and events here.

 An impressive cast has stepped up to lend their voices to the Haiti After The Earthquake audiobook, which will be available through HighBridge in August. Meryl Streep, Edoardo Ballerini (far left), Edwidge Danticat, and Eric Conger (near left) are among those committed to help spreading Farmer’s message of Haiti’s struggles, recoveries, and hopes.

I was lucky enough to see Dr. Farmer speak at the commencement address for Macalester College this year; he is truly an inspiration.

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International diplomacy, New Jersey style: ‘Eating with the Enemy’ arrives on audiobook

July 13th, 2011 by Jeff · Hear It Here First

The bizarre but true tale of New Jersey native Robert Egan’s experience as an accidental diplomat with North Korea—and “an enlightening, and precarious, experiment in the ways opposing cultures can merge and acquiesce” (Kirkus Reviews)—Eating With the Enemy has been garnering major attention ever since it was published earlier this year. It’s been featured in the New York Times, and James Gandolfini will be returning to HBO to star in the movie adaptation.

Now HighBridge is publishing his story as a digital download audio. Narrator Traber Burns captures the full flavor of Egan’s story: often hilarious, occasionally somber, sometimes “in-your-face,” and always fascinating.

Robert Egan could have been a roofing contractor, like his father. Instead, he opened a barbecue restaurant. His interest in the search for Vietnam-era POWs led to an introduction to North Korean officials desperate to improve relations with the United States. So Egan turned his restaurant into Camp David, with pork ribs.

During tumultuous years that saw the death of Kim Il Sung, the rise of Kim Jong Il, the Bush “Axis of Evil,” and North Korea’s successful test of a nuclear weapon, Egan advised North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, informed for the FBI, vexed the White House, and nearly rescued a captured U.S. Navy vessel. Based on true events, this fast-paced tale shows how far one citizen can go in working for peace.

The New York Times calls Eating with the Enemy “a jaunty narrative of one man’s sometimes self-indulgent escapades in the face of government ambivalence,” and Library Journal writes, “In this engaging, off-the-wall memoir, Egan . . .  demonstrates the power that individual friendships formed across ‘enemy’ lines can have.”

Egan has owned and run Cubby’s, a barbecue restaurant in Hackensack, New Jersey for the past twenty-five years. His story has been profiled in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and elsewhere. Journalist Kurt Pitzer has reported from some of the world’s most turbulent regions, including the Balkans, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq. He has written for many publications, including the Boston Globe, The Sunday Times of London, the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones magazine, BBC Radio and People magazine. He is the 2007 winner of the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize for his documentary work in Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia. In 2003, he was embedded with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division during the invasion of Iraq.

Both authors and narrator have created a one-of-a-kind audiobook that will leave you shaking your head and wondering, “What do I have to offer to international diplomacy?” Find out how to get started: download Eating With the Enemy today!

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Featured Audio Giveaway – July 2011

July 8th, 2011 by Jeff · Featured Audio Giveaways


Claire DeWitt

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

Hear an excerpt

How to Win This Audio CD

1. Be an active* subscriber to our newsletter. Just enter your email address below:

2. Send an email to newsletter@highbridgeaudio.com

3. Put the words “Claire DeWitt” in the subject line. Entries must be received by no later than 7/22/2011.

See the Win Audiobooks page for more details. Alternatively, you can LIKE HighBridge on Facebook and comment on this post, or become a FOLLOWER on Twitter and tweet or retweet this message by 7/22/2011.

About This Month’s Featured Audio

The tattooed, pot-smoking Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. Investigating a murder in a homicide-plagued, post-Katrina New Orleans, she has brilliant skills of deduction and is an ace at discovering evidence. But Claire also uses her dreams, omens, and mind-expanding herbs to help her solve mysteries, and relies on Détection—the only book published by the great and mysterious French detective Jacques Silette before his death.

“Those who try to grasp onto the mystery will never succeed,” says Détection. “Only those who let it slip their fingers will come to know it, and hear its secrets.” Good advice for solving a murder, but you’re not going to want to let this slip through your fingers: this month, we’re giving away a free audio copy of what Express calls “The most unusual, intelligent thriller I have read in a long time:” Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead. This audiobook is so good, and two-time Audie® Award-winner Carol Monda’s narration is so spot-on, a slip of the fingers won’t even cross your mind!

More information on this title

Last Month’s Winner

Congratulations to Lin Faro, the winner of the last giveaway, The Borrower. Thanks to all who participated.

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Hot Summer Audio: Tan Line Free and Built for the Beach!

July 7th, 2011 by Jeff · Hear It Here First

Books and the beach. Such a winning combination. But in ancient times, literate beachgoers had to deal with a wide array of problems: Heavy paper tomes would keep their hands occupied, rendering them unable to reach out for mojitos. Tan lines would appear in the exact shape and size of the books they were propping up on their stomach. Even such modern-day advances as mobile readers did not address this last unsightly problem, nor the agony of keeping one’s eyes open against the sun. Tragically, the frustrated many had to hide their love of literature in the shadows.

But not anymore. Thanks to pioneers such as HighBridge Audio, you are now able to enjoy your favorite titles hands-free and without fear of book-sized tan lines. And with HighBridge Audio titles as hot as these—recommended on the summer lists of The New York Times, The Washington Post, People Magazine, and many more—the combination of books and beach has never been better.

So just tuck that audio player beneath the blanket, lean back, close your eyes, and enjoy. . . .

The Preacher

 

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

The Preacher

by Camilla Läckberg;
read by David Thorn
Hear an excerpt

The second in the internationally bestselling Swedish thriller series that began with The Ice Princess, The Preacher has cemented Läckberg’s reputation as one of the best novelists Sweden has to offer. The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly have both added The Preacher to their summer must-read lists, with the Post commenting, “Those seeking a successor to the late Stieg Larsson as the doyen of Scandinavian crime fiction should look to the Swedish author of this gripping thriller.&#8221 Criminal Element ups the ante by asserting, “Camilla Läckberg is not &#8216the next Stieg Larsson&#8217&#151she&#8217s better.&#8221 We’re not trying to any pick fights, here—but we definitely agree.

  

Claire DeWitt and the
City of the Dead

by Sara Gran;
read by Carol Monda
Hear an excerpt

A new series from Sara Gran, “a latter-day Raymond Chandler” (Glamour), Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead has been garnering all sorts of attention. It’s on the summer lists of the New York Times and Salon; the Atlantic writes, “With Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, Gran elevates the detective story as literature and brings together a sophisticated mystery, a witty, antagonistic private eye, and a city she knows too well.”  Critics agree that this is the strongest depiction of post-Katrina New Orleans they&#8217ve seen: Louisiana&#8217s Times-Picayune writes, “The mystery captures post-Katrina New Orleans like no other novel yet has . . .DeWitt’s mesmerizing character and memorable voice take your breath away.”

 
The Borrower   Real Happiness

The Borrower

by Rebecca Makkai;
read by Emily Bauer
Hear an excerpt

This unexpectedly heartwarming tale of a children’s librarian who finds herself way overdue returning a young patron is a top summer pick for the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, and O, the Oprah Magazine. O writes, “How could any [one] of any age resist Rebecca Makkai’s charming The Borrower?”

The Borrower audiobook is read by the extremely capable Emily Bauer (who also narrated the much-lauded The Girl Who Fell From the Sky). Makkai is also on tour this summer; check her out in a city near you!
 

  

Killed at the Whim of a Hat

by Colin Cotterill;
read by Jeany Park
Hear an excerpt

Critics have been unanimous in their praise for Killed at the Whim of a Hat, Colin Cotterill’s forthcoming novel and “What may be the best new international mystery series since the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” (Booklist)

Library Journal, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly have all given starred reviews to Colin Cotterill’s newest mystery series

 
The Inspector and Silence   Long Gone

The Inspector and Silence

by Håkan Nesser;
read by Simon Vance
Hear an excerpt

One of Sweden’s hottest detective series is available for the first time on audio in the US! Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is divorced, grumpy, and cynical, and his love of dark beer, books, and chess is probably greater than his love for his job. But his intuition and ability to read people have made him a highly successful.

BookList calls Inspector and Silence “A taut and compelling mystery in a consistently outstanding series.” Publishers Weekly gave Inspector a starred review; Library Journal calls it a “stylish, atmospheric crime fiction with a strong moral core from an award-winning author; essential for [fans] of the genre.” And with Simon Vance narrating, it’s become essential listening, too.

 

  

Long Gone

by Alafair Burke;
read by Tamara Marston
Hear an excerpt

Critics are already billing Long Gone as one of the top thrillers of the summer. BookPage writes “Highly suspenseful and cleverly crafted with a neat twist ending, Long Gone is a solid bet for the summer bestseller lists.” Publisher Weekly writes, “Burke skillfully orchestrates the mounting tension and claustrophobia of Alice’s world collapsing in on itself.” And People has added it to their list of great summer reads for its “fast-paced fun.”

You can check out even more reviews on Burke’s website, and watch her book trailer.

Burke’s on tour, with visits scheduled all over the country. There’s also some web cam appearances—you may not even have to leave your house!

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Prairie Home Companion Celebrates Another Anniversary

July 6th, 2011 by Jeff · Author/Narrator News

 

Today in 1974 the very first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion was heard from the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in Saint Paul. Admission was a whopping $1 for adults and $.50 for the kiddies. It’s still a great value now–but what a deal then!

Summer Love: Garrison Keillor and the cast of A Prairie Home CompanionSince then, Garrison Keillor and the APHC team have gone on to produce many hundreds of live shows.

Garrison and the rest of the Prairie Home Companion team are currently participating in the 2011 Summer Love Tour, spanning both coasts before returning to the Fitzgerald. Get out and see them if you can! And, whether or no, check out the collection from the 2010 tour, called (appropriately enough) Summer Love.

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APA Announces the Winners of the 2011 Get Caught Listening Video Contest

June 30th, 2011 by Kay Weiss · Uncategorized

On the last day of “June Is Audiobook Month,” here’s some news from the Audio Publishers Association:

After receiving 32 video submissions and narrowing the field to 10 impressive finalists, APA is pleased to announce the winners of our 2011 Get Caught Listening Video Contest. The winners, as determined by popular vote, are:

Our congratulations go out to our three winners, who take home $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000, respectively!

We’d also like to thank all those who submitted to the contest for all the phenomenal videos we received.

And just because June Is Audiobook Month is coming to an end, doesn’t mean you can’t Get Caught Listening all year round! Our YouTube channel isn’t going anywhere, so check out all the video submissions by visiting www.youtube.com/getcaughtlistening.

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David Drummond (narrator of ALL THINGS SHINING) pays a visit

June 21st, 2011 by Jeff · Author/Narrator News

All Things ShiningDavid Drummond, narrator of All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular World stopped by the HighBridge office this morning to say hello. He’s in town this week performing  Guys and Dolls at the Ordway Theater, and was kind enough to pay us a visit.

David did an excellent job with All Things Shining, which David Brooks of the New York Times called “A smart, sweeping run through the history of Western philosophy. . . . important for the way it illuminates life today and for the controversial advice it offers on how to live.” It’s a wide-ranging look at the loss of meaning in the West, and a gripping guide for how to retrieve it. You can read more and hear an excerpt of David’s reading here.

It’s always fun to be able to put a face to a voice, and meeting David has gotten me excited to see Guys and Dolls (I have tickets for Wednesday night).  Thanks to David for stopping by!

David Drummond (back left) with HighBridge staffers Steve Lehman, Susan Lovley, Julie Jackson, and Diane Glaser

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Alafair Burke’s LONG GONE is here today!

June 21st, 2011 by Jeff · Author/Narrator News, Hear It Here First

With a thriller author as talented as Alafair Burke, nothing is as it seems. Friends become enemies. Dream jobs become murder scenes. Even the title strives to deceive you—for Long Gone is not long gone at all. It’s right here at HighBridge, and it’s available on audio today!

Long Gone follows Alice Humphrey. After a layoff and months of struggling, she’s finally landed her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. In short order, however, that dream devolves into a nightmare. Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed—and her employer’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. Now she has to prove it herself: a dangerous search for answers that will entangle her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and force her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family . . . secrets that could cost Alice her life.

Critics are already billing Long Gone as one of the top thrillers of the summer. BookPage writes, “Highly suspenseful and cleverly crafted with a neat twist ending, Long Gone is a solid bet for the summer bestseller lists.” Publisher Weekly writes, “Burke skillfully orchestrates the mounting tension and claustrophobia of Alice’s world collapsing in on itself.” And People has added it to their list of great summer reads for its “fast-paced fun.” You can check out even more reviews on Burke’s website. And her book trailer is below:

Burke’s a busy lady these days. She’s guest blogging for Powell’s  Books, the venerable Portland-based independent bookseller that Burke used to haunt as a college student. She’s on tour, with visits scheduled all over the country (there’s also some web cam appearances—you won’t even have to leave your house!) And last but certainly not least, she’s hosting the Duffer Awards (details also to be found on her website). Named after Burke’s dog, The Duffers are humorous awards (such as “Most Likely to Know the Emergency Room Workers by First Name”) for which legendary thriller characters are in the running. The “awards competition” is going on for the entire month of June. Be sure to get your votes in—you’ll be registered for cool prizes every time you do.

So if you find your summer is lacking a little excitement, try giving Long Gone a listen. We’ve got a free excerpt on our page to make things easy. In the words of Lisa Unger, best-selling author of Darkness My Old Friend, “If you already love Alafair Burke’s novels, buckle up for her best book ever. If you haven’t read”—or listened!—“to her yet, the time is now.”

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