Michael Pronko’s award-winning novel The Moving Blade is now narrated by the great Peter Berkrot
Hello again, dear audiobooks friends! I am really glad to let you all know that the new recording for award-winning novel The Moving Blade by esteemed professor and superb author Michael Pronko is out now narrated by audiobooks industry veteran Peter Berkrot. This is the second book in the Detective Hiroshi series, set in Tokyo, Japan and the audio production is almost 11 hours in duration and it was published by Raked Gravel Press. We learn more about the story from the Publisher’s Summary below.
When the top American diplomat in Tokyo, Bernard Mattson, is killed, he leaves more than a lifetime of successful Japan-American negotiations. He leaves a missing manuscript, boxes of research, a lost keynote speech and a tangled web of relations. When his alluring daughter, Jamie, returns from America wanting answers, finding only threats, Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is dragged from the safe confines of his office into the street-level realities of Pacific Rim politics. With help from ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi, Hiroshi searches for the killer from back alley bars to government offices, through anti-nuke protests to military conspiracies. When two more bodies turn up, Hiroshi must choose between desire and duty, violence or procedure, before the killer silences his next victim. The Moving Blade is the second in the Tokyo-based Detective Hiroshi series by award-winning author Michael Pronko. Awards for The Moving Blade: Named One of Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Mysteries and Thrillers (2018) Grand Prize Winner Chanticleer International Book Awards Global Thrillers (2018) Gold Award Literary Titan Book Award (2018) Five Star Honoree B.R.A.G. Medallion (2018) Gold Award Independent Publisher Awards for Mystery (2019) Finalist Best Book Awards (2018) Finalist The Wishing Shelf Book Awards (2018) Honorable Mention Reader Views Literary Awards (2018-9)
Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir and music. His writing about Tokyo life and taut character-driven mysteries have won awards and five-star reviews. Kirkus Reviews selected his second novel, The Moving Blade for their Best Books of 2018. The Last Train won the Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book.
Michael runs the website, Jazz in Japan, which covers the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama. During his 20 years in Japan, he has written about Japanese culture, art, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, and Artscape Japan. He has read his essays on NHK TV and done programs for Nippon Television based on his writings.
A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film, and finally settling in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. His seminars focus on contemporary novels, short stories and film adaptations. You can find out more about Michal by visiting www.michaelpronko.com.
A veteran of stage and screen, Peter Berkrot‘s career spans four decades. Highlights include feature roles in Caddyshack and Showtime’s Brotherhood, and appearances on America’s Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries. His voice can be heard on television, radio, video games, documentaries and industrials. He is a prominent acting coach and a regular contributor to the award-winning news program Frontline produced by WGBH in Boston.
Peter served as director of narration for the Emmy-nominated The Truth About Cancer. He has also voiced almost 500 audiobooks and more than 300 for children, winning 10 Earphones Awards and a 2012 Audie Award nomination. He received SOVAS awards in 2018 and 2019. His 2016 Audie Award was as part of a multi cast performance for THE STARLING PROJECT, starring Alfred Molina and was part of the ensemble in the Audible Original THE X-FILES: COLD CASES starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
He was just honored along with a brilliant cast of actors for THE VAULT OF HORROR, directed by William Dufris with an Independent Audiobook Award for AUDIO DRAMA. Favorite titles include Toby and the Secrets of the Tree by Timotee de Fombelle, Unholy Night by Seth Grahame- Smith, The Accident by Linwood Barclay, The Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters, the Junior Bender series for Timothy Hallinan and Caddyshack: The making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story in which he is also featured as a character.
I will post an updated review for The Moving Blade soon, but until then take care, stay safe, and don’t forget, always listen with your heart!
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Victor Dima
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