I started narrating for Bolinda in 1997.
BOLINDA AUDIO have been actively marketing their product overseas,
and reviews of Bolinda books have started appearing in a magazine
called " AudioFile - The AudioBook Review", based in Portland,ME USA.
This magazines has awards for excellence called 'Audiophiles's Earphones Award'

Titles Narrated for Bolinda Audio Books

Author:Arthur Upfield

Venom House - read review
Death of a Swagman - read review
Bushranger of the Skies - read review
The Devil's Steps
An Author Bites the Dust
The Bachelors of Broken Hill - read review
The Mystery of Swordfish Reef - Audiophiles Earphones Award winner - read review
The Will of the Tribe
Boney and the White Savage
Clue of the New Shoe - read review
Boney and the Black Virgin
The Winds of Evil
The Sands of Windee
Wings Above the Diamantina
The Lake Frome Monster
The Bone is Pointed
Mr Jelly's Business
Murder Must Wait

Author: Peter Corris

The Reward - read review
The Washington Club - read review
Wet Graves
The Black Prince
The Other Side of Sorrow
Beware of the Dog
Lugarno - read review
Salt and Blood - read review

 

Author:Terry Burstall

The Soldier's Story
A Soldier Returns

Also:

On Our Selection by Steele Rudd
Cloud Street by Tim Winton - Audiophiles Earphones Award winner - read review
Jackson's Track by Daryl Tonkin & Carolyn Landon
Why Weren't We Told by Henry Reynolds
Black Horse Odyssey by David Harris
Cathy Freeman - A Journey Just Begun by Adrain McGregor
The Wild One by Damian Johnstone
Shoot Straight You Bastards! by Nick Blyzinski
Some Days Are Diamonds by Max Moore
The Slapping Man by Andrew Lindsay - read review
Fat, Fifty and F***ed by Geoffrey McGeachin
D.E.D. Dead by Geoffrey McGeachin - read review
D.E.D. and Kicking by Geoffrey McGeachin
Sensitive New Age Spy by Geoffrey McGeachin - read review
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

 


THE REWARD
Peter Corris
ISIS/Bolinda Audio, 1999 / ©1997
Number of cassettes: Eight / 5.5 hrs. / Book pak ISBN 1864423145 / $69.95 Mystery & Suspense Unabridged

Peter Hoskins sounds rough enough and shrewd enough to be convincing as no-nonsense private detective Cliff Hardy. Hoskins also projects an understated charm, which allows Hardy credibility as the moderately well-rounded tough guy he's supposed to be. Hardy recycles wastepaper and protests the overdevelopment of coastal Australia, yet Hoskins's tone also projects the character's familiarity with violence, sex and the dark side of Sydney. The plot moves swiftly, and Hoskins wisely counters with an unhurried passage through it. New rumors about a suppressed ransom note point to possible police or family involvement in a woman's disappearance 17 years earlier. Can Hardy afford the reward?
D.J. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]
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THE WASHINGTON CLUB
Peter Corris
Bolinda Audio, 1999 / ©1997
Number of cassettes: Six / 6 hrs. / Book pak ISBN 1864422890 / $54.95 Mystery & Suspense Unabridged

Cliff Hardy, a down-at-the-heels private investigator in Sydney, Australia, faces daunting challenges in this hard-boiled detective story. When he takes on a case for longtime friend and lawyer Sy Sackville, a series of events begins that leads him into attempts on his life, the death of a close friend, and a relationship with a murder suspect. Peter Hosking's narration fits perfectly with personalities and setting: His weary tone and cynical air speak volumes about the main character, and his rendition of the rest of the cast is subtle and complex. A clear and easily understood Australian accent brings the setting to life. M.A.M. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 00] ©2000 AudioFile Publications, Inc., All Rights Reserved
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VENOM HOUSE
Arthur W. Upfield
Bolinda/ Audio, 1999 / ©1995
Number of cassettes: Eight / 7 hrs. / Book pak ISBN 1864423188 / $69.95 Mystery & Suspense Unabridged

Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte's crime-solving reputation is undisputed. He always gets his "man." But when Bonaparte finds himself at the Answerth's remote and foreboding family manor in the Australian outback, his search for a murderer becomes an ominous mission. Australian narrator Peter Hosking is a remarkably stalwart and capable reader; he has an indulgent interpretation of these peculiar characters-a stranger bunch you've yet to meet. The Answerth sisters, one prim and diabolical, the other fierce-tempered and aggressive, are vividly depicted as possible murder suspects. However, the idiot brother, kept under lock and key, displays glimpses of potential for the deed, as well. Hosking, as the detective-inspector, brilliantly guides the listener through a web of deceit, bizarre behaviors, and a side of Australia you may never have known.
B.J.P. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]
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DEATH OF A SWAGMAN
Arthur W. Upfield
Bolinda Audio Books, 1999 / ©1945
Six cassettes / 7.5 hrs. / Book pak ISBN 1-86442-385-4 $54.95 Mystery & Suspense Unabridged

Peter Hosking gives a good-natured reading to a down-under police procedural. Hosking's Australian accent helps the listener visualize the story of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, who takes only the impossible cases to crack. Half bushman, half-sophisticate, he gets himself arrested in the small town of Merino so that he can work the case from the inside. The production is technically clean, with varied music introducing and ending the sides.
One needs to pay attention because the foreignness of the story is hard to follow. This reviewer still doesn't know what a swagman is.
J.P.© AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEPT 00]

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BUSHRANGER OF THE SKIES
Arthur W. Upfield
Bolinda Audio Books, 1999 / ©1940
Seven cassettes / 7.75 hrs. / Book pak ISBN 1-86442-387-0 $61.95 Mystery & Suspense Unabridged


Written and set in rural Australia in the 1930s, Bushranger features Upfield's serial detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, whose task it is to stop murderous pilot Rex MacPherson from taking over his father's ranch. As Bonaparte dodges bombs and treks through miles of scrub, he is both helped and hindered by rival Aborigine tribes. Hosking has the requisite Aussie accent and the ability to differentiate characters as he narrates the story from dramatic opening to satisfying conclusion. Only the Aborigine pidgin seems demeaning in these politically correct times. Upfield admired the native Australians, but his condescending views led him to be banned from school curricula. Ironically, both the hero and villain here are half-castes.
J.B.G.© AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEPT 00]
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THE SLAPPING MAN
Andrew Lindsay

When I read The Slapping Man I liked it a lot as an example of Inversion - the world we know turned not just upside down , but sideways and slant-ways too - it attracted me and revolted me. And it was funny. But I didn't remember it being particularly confronting. This changed while listening to this audio version. Being read aloud the text seems much more graphic, in both content and language, than it did when I read the book. I was quite squeamish listening to it and often I had to turn it off, or down, particularly when anyone under the age of 18 walked into the room. This is not to say that I didn't like the audio version of The Slapping Man, rather that I didn't quite recognise it. What was likeable about the recording was Peter Hosking's sane and sober treatment of it. I was thinking, considering the content, that there would be lots of voice characterisation, dotty renditions of the surreal characters of the novel. Initially I was disappointed at how his reading resisted this, but eventually I was impressed by it because the content is already so frenetic. I liked this presentation of The Slapping Man but I would warn listeners that the content and language is explicit.
Reviewer: Annalise Balsamo is an assistant editor of Labour and Industry.
3 stars
This review appeared in 'Australian Bookseller and Publisher' September 2004
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CLOUDSTREET
Tim Winton

With sensitivity and vision, novelist Tim Winton creates an Australian classic that takes the listener into the world of two wholly believable working-class families in post-WWII Perth. The Pickles family inherits, but cannot afford to keep, Cloudstreet, a rambling, ramshackled house - so they take in the Lambs as their boarders. The Pickles are an irreligious, indolent lot, while the Lambs are pious and hard-working. Peter Hosking's performance is true to Winton's unsentimental exploration into humankind's ability to love and survive amid adversity. Hosking handles the mundane and the mystical with equal assurance. His characterisations, including an aboriginal ghost and a talking pig are earthy, real, and frequently hilarious. Hosking makes the most of Winton's honesty, wit, and original imagery. S.J.H.
AudioFile Magazine, Oct/Nov 2004
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THE MYSTERY OF SWORDFISH REEF
Arthur Upfield

Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is back to solve a seeningly impossible mystery. Three men set off for a day of swordfishing never to return, leaving not a trace, until a tuna trawler hauls in a head complete with a bullet hole. The famous tracker must search the ocean's ever-changing face to find the murderers. Partially aboriginal, Bony is considered by some to be a savage, so he creates himself as the most gentlemanly of gentlemen. Peter Hosking animates the characters in this 1939 novel, bringing the richness and vastness of the Australian continent vividly to life. From distraught mother to suave and wicked murderer, Hosking enriches Upfield's characters with intonations ranging from heated thrill to deadly cold calculation. The variety and depth of characters in these mysteries still distinguish the series - that is, aside from its dashing, brilliant detective. B.H.B.
AudioFile Magazine, Aug/Sept 2004
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D-E-D DEAD
Geoffrey McGeachin

Listeners will love Alby Murdoch, photographer and secret agent for D.E.D., the Directorate for Extra-territorial Defence, an intelligence-gathering unit of the Australian government. Peter Hosking's performance creates an Alby who's a "dedhead" on a mission, escaping assassination attempts by the seat of his pants and commenting snidely on bureaucrats, love, and life while dodging exploding luggage and menacing gunmen. Hosking's portrayal of Alby offers listeners a wry sense of reality and a photographer's eye for beauty (McGeachin teaches photography in Sydney) as he travels from Melbourne to Sydney to Bali to Australia's Outback. Not quite as bumbling as Maxwell Smart or as urbane as James Bond, Hosking's Alby scores a direct, often hilarious, hit on the self-important stuffiness of the espionage business. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]
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LUGARNO
Peter Corris

Despite his hard-boiled exterior, Private Investigator Cliff Hardy has a moral center. Aging, laid-back, a survivor with the scars to show it, he's quit smoking and cut back on--but not given up--alcohol. In LUGARNO, a posh suburb of Sydney, Hardy finds himself embroiled in drugs, blackmail, murder, and a male escort service supplying wealthy Australian housewives with some naughty diversions. Peter Hosking's excellent narration highlights Hardy's running commentary on post-Olympics Sydney; his botched relationships with women; and his good-natured, if self-deprecating, personal assessments. In the style of American crime noir masters Ross Macdonald and Raymond Chandler, Corris creates a voice that is rough, brawling, occasionally tender, and distinctly Australian. Hosking's narration of that signature voice rings with wit and truth. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]
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THE CLUE OF THE NEW SHOE
Arthur W. Upfield

Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is the half-Aboriginal protagonist in Upfield's popular Australian mystery series. In this 1951 book, "Boney" is on special assignment to solve a murder in southeastern Australia. Peter Hosking does a good job bringing life to Bonaparte, who is supremely self-confident to the point of arrogance; pedantic; ingratiating to some and insufferable to others; and to modern ears, a racist. Hosking, who is Australian, does as well with the many other characters. He perfectly uses the tight vowels of Australian whites and the gentler speech of the Aboriginals, and his females are as believable as his males. This is a well-paced, involving reading of a dated book. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 06]
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THE BACHELORS OF BROKEN HILL
Arthur W. Upfield

Arthur W. Upfield wrote many detective novels featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte--Boney--born of a European father and an Aboriginal mother. They are stylized portrayals of the perpetual outsider, a man who succeeds in a race-conscious hierarchical organization because he never fails to solve the crime that confronts him. In this story, Boney is loaned by the Queensland CID to solve a series of poisonings in Broken Hill, a famous mining town in New South Wales. Peter Hosking's Australian accent, though strong, is always understandable to American ears. Hosking gives Boney a flippant, superior vocal characterization that pinpoints his personality. Not all of the other characters receive such clear characterization. The listener usually knows who is speaking from the context, though not always by the voice. These lapses do not detract from the pleasures of listening to this "Australian Poirot" in action. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]
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SENSITIVE NEW AGE SPY
Geoff McGeachin

Author Geoff McGeachin's popular thriller/farce series features Special Agent Alby Murdoch, who finds himself in the thick of a deadly situation in Sydney, Australia, when all he wants to do is relax. Part James Bond, part Pink Panther, Alby blunders his way through this hilarious action-packed adventure. Australian narrator Peter Hosking gives Alby life in an inspired reading that is so infectious listeners will be begging for more. Hosking reads as if he's not reading at all, speaking to listeners in a straightforward and self-deprecating manner as he dives into character and becomes Alby Murdoch with the greatest of ease. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2008]
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SALT AND BLOOD
Peter Corris

In SALT AND BLOOD, Peter Hosking demonstrates the importance of a good narrator. Corris's novel is generally entertaining, and the dialogue is good at times, but the story remains a bit of a stretch. Policewoman turned private investigator Glen Withers, reunited with her ex-lover, is hired to deal with the case of Rodney St. John Harkness, an alcoholic recently released from a mental hospital who may have a heinous past. Overcoming some long-winded passages, Hosking brings life to the story and keeps the pace brisk. Just as the right ingredients can transform a mediocre recipe into a culinary masterpiece, Hosking's style takes a good book and makes it a far better listening experience. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 08]
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