In his recent work, Books: A Memoir, Larry McMurty recounts, through chatty stories and wry observations, a personal love affair with books not only as things he writes, but as collectible objects in their own right. William Dufris performs perfectly, giving voice to one of the literary world's most highly celebrated but also more reclusive stars.

Hockensmith's debut novel belongs to a genre all its own. One part mystery and one part western mixed up with historical fiction and humor may sound like too much for any narrator. But William Dufris rises to the task with a vaudevillian performance that brings out the best of everything in this wonderful story.

William Dufris' rich characterizations makes Hammett's dialogue crackle, shifting effortlessly from Sam Spade's edgy confidence to Joel Cairo's counterfeit menace to Brigid O'Shaughnessy's misleading vulnerability. More importantly, Dupris' expressive tone focused me on Hammett's elegantly economic prose, reminding me why this is the seminal work of hard-boiled fiction.

Max Barry's masterful satire of American corporate life unfurls from the perspective of the young and ingenuous first person narrator, Stephen Jones. William Dufris's measured, observant tone perfectly underlines Jones's shift from bewilderment to understanding to action.