Aurora

Koepp (Cold Storage) slows down the pace of his thrillers in his latest novel. This time, the monsters are purely human when the country doesn’t learn from one global disaster (the COVID pandemic) before it heads into the next—a blackout that covers most of the world. Unlike his prior novel, this scientific thriller has a mostly character-driven plot that follows estranged siblings, Thom Banning and Aubrey Wheeler, and their respective communities as they struggle to survive without modern conveniences. Enjoyment of the novel depends solely on how much leeway listeners are willing to give these flawed characters. This task is made more difficult by the voices Rupert Friend chooses for his narration. Many of the most annoying characters are given equally irritating voices, which can make it even harder to spend time with them. These unfortunate choices detract from Friend’s otherwise competent and pleasant narration, particularly in the welcome expositions that separate the characters’ stories.