The Prestige by Christopher Priest (2006, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Two stage magicians, devoted to the practice and science of their art, develop a bitter rivalry and a tendency to subvert each other’s acts in ways that grow increasingly sophisticated and reckless as the years go on. Author Christopher Priest engages in plenty of literary legerdemain as well. The result is a spellbinding and entirely original neo-gothic thriller that moves the listener adroitly from the world of staged illusion to the otherworldly, from the historical – Nikola Tesla makes an important cameo appearance -- to the horror-laden, with all sorts of strange and dazzling stops along the way.

The plot is convoluted and occasionally technical. It spans generations and incorporates multiple narrators and a large cast of characters. A lesser audiobook reader might inadvertently muddle the story, but, as usual, Simon Vance displays a dramatic and vocal range that is more than equal to his task. He enhances Priest’s novel with superb pacing and a host of highly convincing voices and accents. He even manages to make an American femme fatale sound like an American femme fatale, no mean feat for a British baritone. A wild ride.