Full Cast • Cinema Sound • Original Music Score
Listen to the Trailer
| Delivery | Physical Disc, Downloadable MP3, Downloadable PDF Script |
|---|---|
| Ages | 14–Adult |
| Runtime | 77 Minutes |
Directed by Micah Touchet
Written by Micah Touchet & Darby Kern
Produced by Micah Touchet
Sound design, Foley and mix by Micah Touchet
Music composed by Jared DePasquale
The Bayou Noir Series is produced by NewBirth Audio Productions.
CAST
Daniel Cross as NOBLE VINCENT
Kera O’Bryon as EVANGELINE, HOTEL EMPLOYEE, T-JOHN & WOMAN
Chloë Elmore as CECILE FRANÇOIS & MRS. HAMILTON
Micah Touchet as RENÉ LANDRY
Garry Nation as RAY DAVENPORT
Andy Harvey as HAROLD DAYSTROM & JULIUS
Jonathan Cooke as MR. HAMILTON & MAN
Jacob Phillips as LIEUTENANT DUBOIS
Ginger Sue as JACQUELINE
David Sanborn as WILFRED
Darby Kern as NEW ORLEANS COP
Nathan Marlette as BUTLER
Reckoning of Cowards: The Bayou Noir Series
Southern Louisiana. 1954. Three men lie dead in a diner. What’s behind it? Lies. Power. Corruption. Who is behind it? That’s for Sheriff Noble Vincent to find out. But he’s got secrets of his own. The kind that doesn’t just cost a man his job — it may cost his life.
Directed by Micah Touchet
Written by Micah Touchet & Darby Kern
Available Now!
Robert Callahan (verified owner) –
A Noir Masterpiece That Grips From Start to Finish
I’ve been listening to audio drama for 30+ years, and Reckoning of Cowards is a standout. Darby Kern and Micah Touchet deliver a noir that feels like it wandered in from radio’s golden age, only with today’s polish.
The story follows Sheriff Noble Vincent, a widower trying to keep his footing in small-town Louisiana while investigating a quadruple homicide at Gatte’s Diner. What looks like a robbery tilts into something uglier, politics, private eyes, and secrets people will kill to protect. The plotting is tight, enough turns to keep you leaning forward without needing a flowchart.
Atmosphere is the hook. You can feel the heavy heat, the rain ticking on the windshield, Noble’s chair complaining under him. Touchet’s sound design pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Jared DePasquale’s score isn’t wallpaper, it’s part of the storytelling, moody, jazzy, and perfectly timed. During the showdown at Daystrom’s place, the music lifts the tension without stepping on the actors. It’s film-quality work.
The performances land. Daniel Cross gives Noble authority and ache. He sounds like a man who carries his wife’s unsolved murder into every room. His scenes with Evangeline (Kera O’Bryon) have warmth and restraint. O’Bryon shows real range, switching cleanly among her roles. Chloë Elmore is pitch-perfect as femme fatale Cecile François, seductive one moment, cornered the next. On the other side, Garry Nation’s Mayor Davenport smiles like a knife, and Andy Harvey is all smooth menace as Harold Daystrom, then turns around and plays Julius, Evangeline’s father, with genuine warmth.
Content-wise: this is adult material. Murder, corruption, temptation, handled as noir texture, not shock value. I’d hand it to older teens and up. As a Christian listener, I appreciated Noble’s moral center. The script lets him be tempted without making him hollow. His relationship with Evangeline is handled with real respect, which matters given the racial tensions they’re navigating.
The dialect work feels right. The regionalisms ring true. I’m from Texas but I have family in Louisiana and it sounds like Louisiana, not a movie about it. If I have a quibble, a couple scene transitions are a hair abrupt. I rewound once moving from the hotel to Evangeline’s house, but the pacing overall is strong.
The ending satisfies without tidying. I don’t want to spoil, but it isn’t triumphant. More like weary justice. The final beat with Evangeline leaves a door cracked open, which feels honest.
Bottom line: first-rate audio drama, self-contained, immaculately produced, well acted, and written for an audience with a brain. If noir is your lane, or you just want to hear the medium firing on all cylinders, Reckoning of Cowards delivers.
Five stars. Count me in for the next one.
—Robert Callahan