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Red Sands Investigations

My first listen of this four part series was on the high quality mp3 files off of Pendant Production’s website. I have to say that I enjoyed it. It gives a sort of China Town feeling at the beginning and then goes into the not so used elements of film noir. It steers away from the typical film noir character troupes and focuses on the grittiness and feel of a film noir movie. It wasn’t even a neo-noir experience as those films generally have at least one of those character types and  all three are usually present in the movie.

"The Tin Thomas"The story itself is quite original, despite the multitude of old and new radio detective stories out there. I was totally digging Marleigh Norton in a lead role that really brought her talents as an actress to the forefront for me. I’ve heard and liked her on other Pendant shows. However, this really brought it home for me. The writer/director, Fiona Thraille has a way with making the character’s personality and mannerisms unique and different. A single word like “chicken” adds a natural personality to a character and the voice acting just takes it up an entire gallon of awesomesauce."The End of the Pier Show"

I was kind of expecting Pete Milan to do the voice of mob boss, Victor Treskillin. After all, he does a fine job in The Kingery as Tommy Arkell. What I wasn’t expecting was that he would have a british accent. It totally gave me chills when I heard him speak the first time. There is also a reveal that blends voice over narration and the story together seamlessly in a way that you weren’t expecting. In fact I wasn’t expecting it at all, but the way it’s pulled off is quite rewarding. Giving it a second listen I picked up on the clues and enjoyed it even more.

This is the kind of story where you get something new every time you listen. Which, I imagine, is much easier to do in a visual medium than an aural one.

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