From Publishers Weekly
Molina keeps the bar raised high with his latest performance of McMurtry's third Berrybender Narrative. As with his readings of the previous two volumes, Sin Killer and The Wandering Hill, Molina creates richly nuanced voices for the many characters in this Wild West tale, from the energetic and innocent young guide Kit Carson to the comically selfish old Lord Berrybender, whose pursuit of drink, fornication and wildlife to shoot is what has brought his aristocratic, idiosyncratic and self-centered British clan to the wild and unforgiving Great Plains. This installment revolves around Berrybender's eldest daughter, Tasmin. Having married and mothered a child with the stoic and sometimes brutal frontiersman Jim Snow, also known as the Sin Killer, Tasmin's heart is now drawn to their quiet and emotionally distant guide, Pomp Charbonneau. Though the story seems to lose some of its steam as it explores the nuances of Tasmin's torn-between-two-lovers quandary, Molina's pace never slows. Even when he is not breathing life into a character, his role as narrator is played with such earnest urgency that it keeps the momentum high and the listener wanting more.
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Molina reads in soft-spoken, comfortable tones that make the listener's experience relaxing, as well as entertaining. McMurtry continues his saga of Lord Berrybender and his four willful daughters, his haughty mistress, and their inept servants. As these characters meet up with real historical figures like Kit Carson, Charles Bent, and Pomp Charbonneau, the ironies, vanities, and tragedies of the West are revealed. Alfred Molina finds unique male and female voices for McMurtry's finely drawn cast. He precisely captures Tasmin Berrybender Snow's frosty temperament and her primitive frontiersman, Jim's, frustration and bewilderment. Molina's accents for everyone from Sioux war chief to English journalist and French aristocrat are perfect and engaging. S.C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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