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The quiet of a sleepy summer morning at the offices of BradParksBooks.com was shattered when Zach, the silly intern, strode in and struck a thoughtful pose. "Unique New York, unusually nude New Yorkers," he announced. Heads turned his way. "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick," he said. Even Peter, the slothful intern, looked up from what had been a particularly absorbing session of catching Pokeman on his phone. "The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue," Zach said. "The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue." It was, naturally, Maggie, the clueless intern, who took the bait. "Zach, what are you talking about?" she asked. "I'm doing vocal warmups," Zach said. "Brad's new novel, The Flack, is being released on audio and I'm going to narrate it for him. So I need to get my instrument in peak form." He cleared his throat and said, "Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat." "But why isn't Brad narrating it?" Maggie asked. "He's got a nice voice." "Because most authors do a terrible job reading their own stuff, so when many audio listeners see 'read by author,' they run away screaming," Zach explained. "The finished product is much better when performed by talented entertainers like me." "But Zach, you've never done a voiceover in your life," said Sarah, the smart intern. "Yeah, but how hard can it be? I've been reading since kindergarten. Listen, I've been practicing with movie trailers." Zach took a deep breath and oozed, 'In a world . . .'" Zach's intonations aside, the audio edition of The Flack really is being released today. It's a long-awaited moment for those who prefer to enjoy the latest Brad Parks novel while driving, strolling, or tending to their bougainvillea. (And, yes, even Sarah had to look up how to spell "bougainvillea.") Meanwhile, the book itself continues to receive critical and popular acclaim. With Brad's usual ripped-from-the-headlines flair—even the interns are impressed that Brad anticipated ICE would be in the news when he began writing this two years ago—The Flack is a propulsive thriller that Booklist called "The Firm . . . on amphetamines." It has a 4.2-star average on Goodreads (despite those trolls who give books two stars because their mothers didn't hug them enough as children). And it has a 4.5-star average on a certain well-known bookselling website. All of which had only stoked Zach's enthusiasm to voice it. Unfortunately . . . "Zach, wait," Sarah said. "Brad's audio publisher, Podium Entertainment, has already selected someone to narrate. His name is Corey M. Snow. He's a popular and accomplished voiceover actor who has performed hundreds of books during his career." "Oh," Zach said. "They have? But . . . but what about the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep?" "It's okay," Maggie reassured him. "I'm sure we can take it to a veterinarian." Yours in Golden Throat, The Interns at BradParksBooks.com  
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