Audible.com has finally listed the audiobook version of The Lincoln Deception, narrated by L.J. Ganser.  I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, and listen to them all the time in the car, even on very short trips to the market or the gym.

Right now I’m near the end of the audio version of Bernard Cornwell’s 1356, a chronicle of 14th-century slaughter at the Battle of Poitiers which I am enjoying immensely.  I think Cornwell is quite wonderful — the Sharpe series, in particular, is a fantastic depiction of Napoleonic times — but a good reader adds to the distinctiveness of characters and the depth of dialogue.  Jack Hawkins, who reads 1356, is very good.

Some authors read their own books, but I tend to avoid those.  A good actor will almost always be a better reader, in my opinion, than the writer.  I remember being struck particularly by a reader on a Roddy Doyle book; the rhythm of Irish dialogue was so much stronger for me when spoken by an Irishman (or someone who can do a good Irish accent).

I have heard only a snippet of L.J. Ganser‘s reading of The Lincoln Deception, but it sounded remarkable to me.  If you have the time and opportunity to listen, I find it adds pace and drama to a story.  Ganser has also read several novels by James Ellroy and Russell Shorto’s book about Dutch New York, The Island at the Center of the World.