In Circle of Influence by Annette Dashovy, Zoe Chambers serves as the local paramedic in the small Pennsylvania community of Vance Township. She attends a meeting of the township supervisors, where Jerry MacBernie, a particularly abrasive member of the supervisors, charges Sylvia Bassie with theft and demands that the police chief, Pete Adams, arrest the woman who is the police department administrator and the mother of one of the other supervisors. According to Jerry, Sylvia has stolen an old computer that the police have thrown away.
Later that night, the police department gets a call about a truck sitting in a field during a sub-freezing night. Afraid that someone could die of hypothermia, Pete goes out to the truck, whose license plate shows that it belongs to Jerry MacBernie. However, inside sits the body of Ted Bassie, the enemy of Jerry. Zoe helps Pete in trying to solve the murder, which threatens to tear apart their community.
Circle of Influence was an exciting audiobook that kept me interested. I was impressed that despite the numerous characters, I didn’t have trouble distinguishing among them. The descriptions came across vividly and gave clear imagery when depicting the characters and local area. The plot also kept me interested, and I was excited to learn what would happen.
Romy Nordlinger performs the audio edition of this book. She uses strong expression and good voices for each of the characters. I like the timbre of her voice and think it is very pleasant to listen to. My one issue with this performance is that the book shifts scenes regularly throughout each chapter, but Nordlinger does not give much of a pause between scene changes, leading to some confusion when listening.
Overall, I had a very good time listening to Circle of Influence, which had an exciting plot and an even more exciting conclusion. The small concern about the recording running scenes together did not get in the way significantly or mar my enjoyment of the book. I give the book five stars!
