Lying Game

Imogen Church meets the challenge of narrating Ware's slow-burning psychological thriller. Church's smooth, even-paced voice takes the listener back and forth between the present and 17 years ago, when a group of four teenage girlfriends at an English boarding school collude in "the lying game." Church succeeds in projecting the personalities of all the female characters. However, she struggles to deliver on the male characters. Exploring the impact of lies, Ware describes nearly every action and scene in great detail, providing the listener with deep insights but frequently slowing the story to a crawl. But the patient listener will find the truths slowly revealed and, like the characters in the story, find relief in the end. E.Q. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine