One More River to Cross

This epic of an ex-slave's adventure in the Old West, told in prose reminiscent of the Bible, begs to be heard. Mark Hammer gives it a voice. Although he gives adequate attention to character voices, Hammer's special appeal is his unique narrative voice. He moves through this tale in a warm, gravelly rumble, which always remains agile enough for humor and irony. (One could wish that he were more facile with the Spanish.) The well-shaped ten-minute chapters of this recording are like potato chips--ranch-style, of course--one keeps reaching into the bag for just one more. J.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Christina Moore deftly narrates this historical fiction based on the true events of the Stephens-Murphy wagon company, which crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains two years before the Donner party. Moore's finely tuned descriptions of the journey are appropriately tense during frequent periods of danger but soothingly gentle when the story contemplates the motives and feelings of these pioneers. Moore's greatest gift to this production is her ability to differentiate the many characters, who splinter into several different groups when they become bogged down by winter's early arrival. Her skills in maintaining consistent accents for people of diverse backgrounds and matching voice to personality enliven the characters and make shifts in point of view clear. N.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine