The Black Reckoning

The third installment of this young adult fantasy series drops the listener right into the middle of the plot and wastes no time. Narrator Jim Dale's timbre has a bright, crisp quality that is immediately engaging. The story follows siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma, who are faced with a dark foe called the Dire Magnus, whom Kate once knew and loved as a boy named Rafe. The wizard, Dr. Pym, who embodies the British "stiff upper lip" even in the face of extreme danger, is given a grandfatherly charm by Dale. But it's the the affable Scots brogue that Dale gives the dwarves that steals the show. Dale's performance, married with top-notch writing, will delight audiences of all ages. E.E. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine