Boys of Alabama

March 2, 2020
In Hudson’s luminous debut novel (after the collection Pretend We Live Here), a German teenager with a supernatural power moves to Delilah, Ala., with his parents. Max delightfully takes in the “exotic” sights— rivers “rushing like arteries cut open across the earth”; a Confederate flag flying from a truck. Despite Max’s mother’s unease, Max adjusts easily to his new life by joining the high school football team, though the homophobic culture causes him to question his burgeoning feelings for his friend Pan, a goth outsider from school. Max reveals his power of resurrection to Pan by reanimating a dead squirrel. After Max gets caught up in a fervent evangelical group led by a man known around town as the Judge, his parents weigh their concern about his involvement with the Judge against their support for his efforts to find himself. (“The Judge man called his supporters a Christian army,” his mother exclaims to his father. “He’s trying to draft our son!”) After Pan tells Max about the dark side of the Judge’s evangelism, it pushes him to help resurrect people who can speak the truth about the Judge, putting both Max and Pan in danger. While the conclusion feels rushed, leveraging the characters’ strong bond in service of a melodramatic climax, Hudson writes tenderly about cultural displacement, toxic masculinity, and friendship. This complex tale achieves a startling variation on the theme of teenage rebellion.

Charlie Thurston's performance transports listeners into a modern fantasy laced with themes of cultural differences, gay romance, and the battle between science and religion. German native Max can bring dead animals back to life with his touch. After moving to Alabama, he enrolls in a Christian school, becomes engrossed in the "boys being boys" culture of the football team, and explores a relationship with Pan, an unapologetic witch living his best life. Thurston offers the perfect dynamic narration for such a rich story. Max is depicted as a complex character with multiple layers. Listeners will experience Thurston peeling those layers with tenderness, sympathy, and compassion. A remarkable performance charged with melodrama and polished theatrics makes this a gem amid narrations. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine