Approaching the midpoint of a year in books best described as “meh” – a result of my own poor selection and persistent intrusion into my quiet hours by the noise of the real world – I can say as a positive note that more than a few of the most satisfying titles thus far are audiobooks.

The four novels below have one thing: a stellar reader whose rhythm, accent, and overall transformation of the written word into literary performance is as soothing as it is captivating.

They are:

* Hang on St. Christopher, Adrian McKinty, the eighth of the Sean Duffy detective novels. Narrated, as were the previous seven, by Gerard Doyle, a true master of Irish nuance.

* The Road, Cormac McCarthy, the father-son tale of dystopic bleakness. Narrated by the late Tom Stechschulte, who delivers each of McCarthy’s precisely chosen words as a savory morsel. A delicious experience.

* The New Iberia Blues, James Lee Burke, part of the series about Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux. As always with Burke, the story packs punch, but the narration by actor Will Patton (one of my favorite readers) elevates the prose to theater.

* The Stars at Noon, Denis Johnson, the story of a young woman adrift in Nicaragua during the Sandinista rebellion. Narrated again by Patton, his hypnotic almost comforting manner provides antidote to the angst, danger, and dissoluteness that defines the story.        `,