Tag: crime

Blackstone Audiobooks Overtstock Sale

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Blackstone Audiobooks Overstock SaleBlackstone AudiobooksSFFaudio receives FREE audio media in the mail on a regular basis. They generally arrive unsolicited (though sometimes not) and we take it that their arrival equates with a tacit understanding that we’ll either mention the receipt on the website and/or review the audiobook or audio drama. That’s the extent of our formal relationship with any publisher or retailer. We do not use affiliate links to Amazon, or any other audiobook retailer. This lack of affiliation means that we can never feel pressured into reviewing an audiobook or audio drama more positively (or negatively) than we might otherwise.

Now, with all that said, I think I can speak for most of the folks who work at SFFaudio and say that we are all especially fond of Blackstone Audiobooks.

There are a few reasons for this BA love. Blackstone picks great books to turn into audiobooks, pairing them with terrific narrators, and then releases them in DRM free version. That’s really all what you want from a publisher. But that isn’t the end of it. Every so often they blow-out audiobooks that are cramming their wharehouse space. And that’s why right now they’re offering 237 different audiobooks for just $9.99 each.

That’s a STUNNING DEAL my friends!

And, if you buy two audiobooks (or more) you’ll even get FREE SHIPPING (within the USA). Here are just a few of the many titles they’ve got for sale right now:

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; read by Ben Kingsley
THE AENEID by Virgil; read by Frederick Davidson
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll; read by Michael York
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London; read by Ethan Hawke
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT by Mark Twain; read by Carl Reiner
FRANKENSTEIN, OR THE MODERN PROMETHEUS by Mary Shelley; read by Simon Templeman, Anthony Heald, and Stefan Rudnicki
I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson; read by Robertson Dean |READ OUR REVIEW|
IT’S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven; read by Scott Brick
KING KONG by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper; novelization by Delos W. Lovelace; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE MARTIAN CHILD by David Gerrold; read by Scott Brick
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde; read by Simon Vance
THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest; read by Simon Vance
THE PRINCE by Niccoló Machiavelli; read by Patrick Cullen
ROCKET SHIP GALILEO by Robert A Heinlein; read by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE SPARTANS by Paul Cartledge; read by John Lee
SWEENEY TODD AND THE STRING OF PEARLS by Yuri Rasovsky; Performed by a full cast
TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER by Beatrix Potter; read by Nadia May
TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE by David Hajdu; read by Stefan Rudnicki
THERMOPYLAE by Paul Cartledge; read by John Lee
THE TIME MACHINE by H.G. Wells; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka; read by Geoffrey Howard
UTOPIA by Sir Thomas More; read by James Adams
V FOR VENDETTA by Steve Moore; read by Simon Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by H. G. Wells; read by Christopher Hurt
WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES by Philip Gourevitch; read by Jeff Cummings
WHERE’S MY JETPACK? by Daniel H. Wilson; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE by Don Winslow; read by Dennis Boutsikaris
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO NARNIA by Jonathan Rogers; read by Brian Emerson

Posted by Jesse Willis

Naxos Audiobooks: 3 FREE Sherlock Holmes short stories

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Naxos AudiobooksNaxos Audiobooks, in partnership with AudioFile Magazine, is offering three unabridged Sherlock Holmes short stories FREE for download until December 29th, 2009! The first of these had already been made available, but the other two are definitely new to my collection (and SFFaudio). Narrator David Timson has a really terrific voice for Sherlock Holmes narration. Have a listen to Timson talk about Doyle and Holmes |MP3|. He’ll make you want to get the rest of the Sherlock Holmes short stories and the four Sherlock Holmes novels he narrated for Naxos.

Naxos Audiobooks - Silver Blaze by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventure of Silver Blaze
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Read by David Timson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 60 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
Published: 2009
One of the most famous images of Sherlock Holmes, Sidney Paget’s drawing of Holmes, complete with Deerstalker and Inverness cape, leaning eagerly forward to a an attentive Watson in a railway carriage as they hurtle towards their next adventure comes from ‘The Silver Blaze.’

Naxos Audiobooks - The Adventure Of The Stock-Broker's Clerk by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventure of the Stock-Broker’s Clerk
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Read by David Timson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
Published: 2009
In Stock-Broker’s Clerk, the intrepid pair travel by train to Birmingham, and it is nostalgic to think that despite it being 1889, when Holmes and Watson alighted at New Street station they would have been greeted by cobbled streets, eighteenth-century houses and a town still largely undeveloped.

Naxos Audiobooks - The Adventure Of The Bruce-Partington Plans by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Read by David Timson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 71 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
Published: 2009
Trains feature consistently throughout the canon, incidentally and as a main component of the story as in ‘The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans’. It is popular amongst railway enthusiasts, as a significant part of the investigation takes place among the subterranean tunnels of the London Underground system.

[via AudioFile]

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC + RR.cc: McLevy: a 19th century detective series based on a real detective

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Online Audio

The Inspector McLevy MysteriesPaul Bishop, who runs the addictive Bish’s Beat blog, writes about an unfamiliar audio drama series that sounds right up our dark alley!

Sez Paul:

“McLevy!

THESE TOP NOTCH AUDIO DRAMAS FROM BBC 4 SURROUNDING INSPECTOR MCLEVY, A TACITURN, VICTORIAN, EDINBURGH SLEUTH, HIS GIRLFRIEND BROTHEL OWNER JEAN BRASH, AND HIS SIDEKICK CONSTABLE MULHOLLAND, ARE A JOY. ORIGINALLY BROADCAST FROM 1999 TO 2006, GOOD WRITING, GOOD CASTING, AND GOOD DIRECTION MAKE THIS FORTY-FIVE MINUTE SHOW A MUST FOR YOUR BBC DOWNLOADER . . .”

Indeed! Though I think a visit to RadioArchive.cc will be even more effiecent!

RadioArchives.ccFrom “Snuffbox” a collector and moderator on RadioArchive.cc:

The dark broodings of James McLevy, a dour Scots detective created by writer James Ashton, are based loosely on the stories of a real-life police inspector. James McLevy was a County Armagh-born builder’s labourer who embarked on a police career in the 1830s and published several collections of his cases.

Ashton’s McLevy, however, is a far deeper and darker character, a man obsessed with meting out justice, and with demons of his own.

Brian Cox is superb as the brooding coffee addict McLevy, ably supported by his sharp side-kick Constable Mulholland. Running throughout the series is McLevy’s love-hate cat-and-mouse realationship with the delicious Jean Brash, propriortress of Edinburgh’s premier bawdy-hoose.

Cast:
McLevy … Brian Cox
Mulholland … Michael Perceval-Maxwell
Jean Brash … Siobhán Redmond
Lt. Roach … David Ashton

Pilot 1999
1. McLevy
1st Series 2000
2. For Unto Us
3. The Trophy Club
4. The Second Shadow
5. The Burning Question
2nd Series 2002
6. A Good Walk Spoilt
7. Wild Justice
8. The Wild Spark
9. Stab in the Back
3rd Series 2003
10. Behind the Curtain
11. A Voice from the Grave
12. The Dark Shadow
13. Servant of the Crown
4th Series 2006
14. A Piece of Cake
15. The Sea Change
16. Sins of the Fathers
17. The Devil’s Disguise
5th Series 2009
18. To Keep Him Honest
19. Picture of Innocence
20. The Chosen One
21. The Reckoning

2 episodes are also available on CD |HERE|

[via Bish’s Beat]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Poison Sleep by T.A. Pratt

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Poison Sleep by T.A. PrattPoison Sleep (A Marla Mason Novel)
By T.A. Pratt; Read by Jessica Almasy
9 Hours, 41 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: 2009
Themes: / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Magic / Crime /

This is the second Marla Mason novel from T. A. Pratt, yet you don’t need to have read the first book to appreciate this one. Marla is once again back in her home town of Felport. Marla is the chief Sorcerer of the city and she works to keep all the other sorcerers in the city in line. A thankless job. Part crime boss, part superhero. At her side is her somewhat reluctant friend, Rondeau. He’s not one to back down from danger, but the toilets in his night club need unblocking and Marla should really learn to do her own laundry. And shopping. And driving. She could use a Personal Assistant.

Freshly escaped from the Blackwing institute is a prisoner, Genevieve, who has been asleep for the last fifteen years. The Blackwing Institute is a prison that holds criminally insane sorcerers. You know, those that want to kill everyone in sacrifice to their own gods, or others that are a danger to the normal people who don’t believe in magic. Genevieve isn’t a criminal though. But she is unimaginably dangerous as her dreams affect reality. Unfortunately she has a lot of nightmares, so being catatonic for the last decade and a half has been a good thing for everyone else.

As Marla and Rondeau try to find Genevieve, there is also a rouge assassin somewhere in town stalking his prey. And one of her sorcerer isn’t answering her calls. Genevieve is affecting the city more and more. It is a race to reach her when she next appears out of her dream realm and starts changing the city.

Marla is a kick-in-the-door and subdue everyone kinda woman. She’s very strong and not afraid of a fight. The subtler side of negotiations sometimes elude her, particularly if they require much in the way of patience.

Although Genevieve’s story is tragic and disturbing, this is a fun story and Jessica Almasy carries you smoothly into the winter of Marla’s snow-bound Felport.

If you love your urban fantasy, hold the vampires and werewolves,
you’ll enjoy Poison Sleep.

Posted by Paul [W] Campbell

BBC Radio 5 + RA.cc: Hergé’s The Adventures Of Tintin

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Adventures of Tintin RADIO DRAMAWhen I was a little boy my best friend was the son of my dad’s best friend. When I met him he had just immigrated to British Columbia from France with his mom and dad. I lived in a house by the government dock and they lived on their sailboat. The same sailboat that they’d emigrated in. He spoke only French. I spoke only English. But that didn’t matter. I taught him English over the summer. We had a long stretch of beach to play on. We’d make sand castles, sand dykes and dams. We’d build rafts out of random beach flotsam. We collect shells and seagull feathers (I figured if we gathered enough feathers we could make a floatplane. Then, in the evenings, while my dad and his dad talked adult talk, smoked pot and drank beer, Gaël and I would share our comics. I would show him my English Batmans and Supermans, he showed me his French Lucky Lukes, Asterices, and Tintins.

Sometime after my father died and I moved north, I learned that Gaël, who I’d eventually lost touch with, had changed his name to Jeff. I miss that kid.

I haven’t seen any audio versions of Asterix, and Lucky Luke is quite scarce these days, but Tintin is available in radio drama form:

The Adventures Of Tintin

In these productions Tintin doesn’t have a French (or Belgian) accent, and his dog, Snowy, is more talkative than I remember him being in the comics. Nevertheless, this is still a fun series – especially as something to listen to after reading the comics. The shows are all only 30 minutes long, except for the two part episodes, The Calculus Affair and The Red Sea Sharks. A half-hour is really far too short to include every panel of dialogue and hour is better.

The Adventures Of Tintin

You can get all 13 episode of both seasons (and the special) by torrent over at RadioArchive.cc.

The Adventures Of Tintin – The Black Island
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Secret Of The Unicorn
The Adventures Of Tintin – Red Rackham’s Treasure
The Adventures Of Tintin – Destination Moon
The Adventures Of Tintin – Explorers On The Moon
The Adventures Of Tintin – Tintin In Tibet
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Seven Crystal Balls
The Adventures Of Tintin – Prisoners Of The Sun
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Calculus Affair – Part 01
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Calculus Affair – Part 02
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Red Sea Sharks – Part 01
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Red Sea Sharks – Part 02
The Adventures Of Tintin – The Castafiore Emerald

For more information on this series visit Tintinologist.org.

Posted by Jesse Willis

SpeakingVolumes: Roger Zelazny read by Roger Zelazny

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

SpeakingVolumes.usNeill Smith sez:

“…two Roger Zelazny audiobooks … have become available in unabridged form on CDs – Nine Princes In Amber and A Night In Lonesome October as originally read by Roger. You may know about these (and future Zelazny unabridged titles to finally be rereleased) but I just happened on the news. If you don’t know, the company is Speaking Volumes. I got the news from the newsgroup alt.books.roger-zelazny on Google. According to Chris Kovacs on this group, the releases will include Roger’s readings of Blood of Amber and Knight of Shadows which were not released in unabridged form on cassettes.”

It looks like Speaking Volumes will have quite a number of Roger Zelazny audiobooks published! But this new publisher doesn’t only have Zelazny, Speaking Volumes is doing some other titles that look very cool:

Medicine Cup / Microbe by Bill Clem (two medical thrillers paired as double novel along the lines of the old Ace and Tor doubles)

Three novels by Max Allan Collins novels

We’re going to try to get some of these in as review copies too.

[Thanks Neill!]

Posted by Jesse Willis