Chain-Gang All-Stars

Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel (after the short story collection Friday Black) posits a not-so-distant future when prisoners are followed by cameras and streamed on reality television. The audience roots for their favorites as the prisoners compete in gladiator-style death matches. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are superstar women fighters—and lovers too. Listeners follow Loretta and Staxxx through their inhumane incarceration, a barely concealed indictment of the prison industrial complex. Some protestors recognize this new world as cruel but are fighting against many others who accept this as a form of entertainment. Although this is a fictional tale, Adjei-Brenyah inserts real statistics, footnotes, and stories amid the novel’s action. Narrator Shayna Small guides listeners through most of the book, accompanied by Aaron Goodson taking on the deep, strong narration of Hendrix Young, Michael Crouch as the inwardly focused Simon Craft, and Lee Osorio voicing wild Gunny Puddles.