The 500

August 27, 2012
Quirk's debut thriller follows Mike Ford, fresh out of a prestigious law school, but plunged into a complex maze of Hitchcockian deceit far beyond his experience. In this irresistable audio edition, narrator Jay Snyder manages to get listeners to root for Fordâwho just started work at the Washington consulting firm the Davies Groupâmaking him sound like an average, likable guy despite his elite credentials and ultra-powerful job. Snyder's even-keeled, understated portrayal captures the essence of Ford, and his narration is a delight to listen to: well paced, clean, engaging, and shifting easily between moments of exposition and drama. And if some of the voices Snyder creates for the book's many characters could be more distinct, this entertaining audio production is no worse for it. A Reagan Arthur hardcover.

April 2, 2012
Former Atlantic reporter Quirk’s engaging first novel transplants the milieu of Grisham’s The Firm to the world of political lobbyists. After being recruited by Washington’s leading consulting firm, the Davies Group, Harvard law student Mike Ford thinks he’s left behind his blue-collar upbringing. While lobbying policymakers for his new mentor, firm founder Henry Davies, Mike gains a taste of what it’s like to belong to America’s political elite and begins dating his beautiful and patrician colleague, Annie Clark. Mike’s work proves, however, to call less upon his political ideals than on criminal skills first acquired from his jailed con man father. As Mike ascends the Davies Group’s hierarchy, he gradually realizes that the firm conceals a sinister political conspiracy. Quirk supplies just enough characterization and journalistic detail of Washington, D.C., life to ground his story as he launches into a streamlined, gripping man-on-the-run thriller. 10-city author tour. Agent: Shawn Coyne, the Endeavor Agency.

Jay Snyder makes this a terrific listen. It's an exciting Washington-insider mystery of political corruption with the usual multiple plotlines and mix of characters. The story drags in some places, but Snyder carries the listener over those speed bumps. Snyder is so good that it's worth mentioning how well he does even with the female voice of a GPS navigation system. He uses relatively little character voicing, but his ability to inject action with his power of speech and spot-on pacing makes full voicing unnecessary. He also achieves good character and gender differentiation, so we never get the multitude of players mixed up. M.C. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine