The Voiceover Artist

Reidy’s (Captive Audience) novel revolves around trying to find one’s voice through art. “Th—this is m—myoo—music,” young Simon Davies stutters to his mother, in an attempt to explain his admiration for established voice-over artists such as Larry Sellers. Simon’s love for voice broadcasting becomes his focus, helping him overcome family betrayals and heartbreak, and pulling him out of 18 years of fearful self-imposed silence. Despite his speech impediment and atrophied vocal chords, Simon manages to rebuild his voice and discovers that he sounds exactly like his charming younger brother, Connor. In pursuit of his dream, Simon journeys from Leyton, Ill., to Chicago and New York City, hoping that by becoming a real voice-over artist he might prove himself to his ex-girlfriend, Brittany Case, and surpass Connor’s success as a comedian. Simon is at the center of the plot, but the book has several narrators. Scenes are often depicted and then repeated later from another perspective. Although many of these revisits do not offer enough insight into the relationship among the characters to support the repetition, this is still a compassionate and earnest read. (Nov.)